


Expedition to the Savage Land

by DragonK, Neverever, zappedbysnow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Dinosaurs, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Savage Land (Marvel), Smuggling, Spies & Secret Agents, Suspicions, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27812680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonK/pseuds/DragonK, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever, https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow
Summary: Lord Tony Stark does not get along at all with Captain Rogers and wants little to do with him. Captain Rogers is lost and alone in world foreign to him. Fury appoints Captain Rogers to lead an expedition to the Savage Land to conduct scientific research on behalf of the New Explorers' Club and surprisingly Captain Rogers wants Stark to be his lead scientist. Tony would be fine with the expedition if he didn't have suspicions that the expedition is about more than research. And if Rogers hadn't brought his pet dinosaur along.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 108
Collections: 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2020 Cap-Iron Man Big Bang.
> 
> Big thanks to DragonK and ZappedbySnow who were wonderful, kind and patience with my terrible drafts, writing blocks, and hand-wavy descriptions. They were the real champs with lovely suggestions and kind comments for the fic. Thank you 2020 Team Lima for all the support and help.
> 
> And big thanks to my beta, arms_plutonic, who has been kicking my ass from day one on this draft and helped so much, even when I thought I'd give up on this.

Tony Stark didn’t always get what he wanted.

And what Tony wanted most of all in that moment was an excellent excuse for skipping out on the Annual New Explorers’ Club Dinner. The gold-edged invitation sitting on his mahogany desk in front of him mocked him with the announcement and Fury’s personal greeting handwritten in the corner.

“They’ve asked if you’ll be coming, Tony,” Pepper said. “We need to say something.”

Tony drummed his fingers on the desk, stalling for time. He always looked forward to the Annual Dinner with buoyant enthusiasm. Food was always excellent, the company scintillating, and the after dinner talk compelling. But this year ….

“There could be a giant meteor strike,” Tony blurted out.

Pepper tucked a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. “I’m not seeing that on your schedule for tomorrow.”

“Really, Pep?” He slammed a hand on the desk, nearly tipping over the fountain pen and ink. “I should go, I should. But leave before the after dinner talk.”

“Fury wants you to introduce --”

“I’m not doing that. I draw a line.”

“Tony --”

He tried to turn in his chair, which remained in place. “Clear my schedule -- I’m going to invent a swivel chair.”

“I will do that after I send Fury a message.”

Tony sighed and glanced over his study full of leather bound books, hastily drawn schematics, an old globe, the light streaming through leaded glass windows. Pepper insisted on meeting him here, instead of his workshop, to go over business. He had to concede to her obvious wisdom in Tony-management given the constant chaotic state of his expansive workshop, complete with his latest clockwork robots. “I assume that Rhodey is going.”

“My understanding is that Colonel Rhodes is Captain Danvers’ plus-one for the dinner.”

“In that case --”

“Fury could find you a date if that is what is holding up your acceptance of the invite.” Pepper shifted her long skirt.

“You’re enjoying this far too much,” Tony said.

Pepper smiled slightly and tapped the end of her pen on her chin. “Seriously, Tony, they do need an answer. If you decline, they need time to find someone else. As it is, we’re cutting it close with the dinner being held next week.”

“No chance that Captain Rogers has declined being the after dinner speaker?”

“Is that what this is about?” Pepper asked.

Tony toyed with a screwdriver on his desk. He’d bought it at a shop in the city two years prior, the day before he’d heard that they had recovered the war hero Captain Rogers from a magic stasis. Just a random fact he remembered each time he picked it up. The screwdriver turned out to be a good tool; the famous hero Rogers a disappointment.

“He’s a very popular speaker, you are too, and the Annual Dinner is a fund raiser for the Club.” Pepper sighed. “I know Captain Rogers is not one of your favorite people, but you could do it for the club? Both of you together would be a major draw for the Dinner.”

“Fine. Tell Fury I’ll be there.”

Pepper checked off her list. “I’ll prepare some appropriate remarks from Lord Tony Stark on the return of the Rogers Expedition.”

“Seriously, Rhodey has a date for the dinner?”

~~~~~

He should have a more favorable opinion about Captain Rogers, given that the man was in fact a living legend. But Tony had seen and experienced enough in his life to doubt the faces people presented and to dig for the real person hidden by the facade. He wasn’t going to be taken in because people told him what a good person Captain Rogers was.

Tony had long resisted returning to the city of his birth and family honors. His memories of New Timely were tied up in the less-than-pleasant remembrances of his father and those last years before his death. Naturally a man of boundless inventiveness, imagination, and intelligence, Tony felt constricted by the obligations of the family business and honors given by a grateful government. But the New Explorers’ Club and his science friends had lured him back to the city a few years ago. That, and wanting to leave the betrayals of his father’s business partner back in the west and in the past.

As for Captain Rogers, he’d met Rogers a week after he’d been rescued from the Void. Everyone had been excited by the news. Rogers had disappeared right after saving hundreds of thousands of people all over the world in the last battle of the Great Zeppelin War. He’d taken down a fleet of death ships. Tony had grown up surrounded by stories of how great Rogers was. Howard filled their house with memorabilia and talked incessantly about the man, whom he had known. A fan in childhood, Tony had become more skeptical as he grew older and more alienated from his father.

Despite all the accolades, meeting Rogers in the flesh was more disappointing. Tony hadn’t quite known what he expected when he shook the man’s hand and said welcome back. Rogers looked like he’d stepped right out of the history books and propaganda posters. But when he opened his mouth and said something about Howard, Tony chalked him up to being like dozens of others he’d met before. Since that meeting a couple of years ago, Tony just didn’t understand why anyone would consider the man special at all.

He couldn’t figure out what the hell made Steve Rogers tick?

The beautiful late summer evening outside the restaurant windows proved the city’s charms. A city worker methodically lit the gas street lights, which twinkled in the dusk as each light flashed on. Another attraction of New Timely was the vast number of activities going on in the city at any time. Tony could choose to go to a boxing match or a lecture at the Club or to a concert.

He consoled himself with a dinner out with Rhodey and a variety show. Pepper had talked non stop about the Modern Marvels show that she and Happy had attended. She had suggested that Tony see it before the show closed.

“Carol says that she could find you a date for the dinner,” Rhodey said.

They were at the dessert course and Rhodey hadn’t run out of news about his recent promotion in the government defense forces or his girlfriend Carol.

“If I need a date, I can find someone. I can ask any number of men or women to join me if I choose to have company.”

Rhodey threw up a hand. “Just looking out for you, Tones. You seem to have hit a dry spell since you came to New Timely.”

“Just because I haven’t met the blond soldier of my dreams like some people I could mention -- wait, I’ve had plenty of companionship since I moved here.”

A look of amusement passed over Rhodey’s face. But whatever he was thinking, he decided against sharing. Tony waited a couple of seconds before changing the subject.

“I am going to tell Pepper what to write for my introductory remarks at the Club dinner next week.”

“That should be easy, since it’s Rogers. Interesting expedition to Atlantis -- I’ve been reading the Club’s announcement.”

“He’s got more than an hour to blather on about it at the Dinner. I hope they serve coffee or else Rogers is going to send us all to sleep early.”

“Do you want to walk or take a taxi to the theatre?” Rhodey asked.

“You?”

“I’d prefer walking.”

“Then we’ll walk.”

While waiting for his coat and hat, Tony pondered. Maybe he should be out there meeting people. He could feel the tug of loneliness more often than he prefered. But he’d learned the hard way that people couldn’t be trusted, and that flaws were often hidden behind smiling faces and shining reputations.

Tony took a deep breath and put on his top hat, tapped his cane, and adjusted his coat as he and Rhodey stepped out into the street. The sidewalk cafes were filled with people and even some stores were open late in hopes of catching the attention of passersby. “We need to work on replacing gaslight with something more reliable,” Tony observed as Rhodey looked over the books on display in a bookstore window. “And less flammable.”

“I thought you had something in the works,” Rhodey replied.

“Always do. The problem is more complicated -- the fuel to replace gas, then delivery of that fuel. Electricity might do the trick --”

Tony noticed out of the corner of his eye a small girl in a plaid pinafore holding a leash. Her dinosaur was straining at the end of said leash, lurching to the left and to right, focused on the two dogs behind Tony. He did a double take. That dino had to be a Deinonychus, a very young one based on its size. It would tear the dogs apart in seconds, if Tony remembered his dinosaur facts right.

“Rhodey --” Tony elbowed his friend to urge him out of the way.

The dinosaur lunged forward, ripping the leash out of the young girl’s hands. Her father and friends raced to catch the dinosaur before it reached the two barking dogs and their yelling owner. Tony and Rhodey stepped forward. Tony held out his cane and Rhodey caught the end of it to set up a barrier to stop the dino. The dino ran right into the cane and dropped to the pavement like a lead bullet.

The girl’s father apologized to everyone within eyesight while the little girl petted her momentarily winded pet. Tony glanced over to Rhodey, who tugged on Tony’s coat sleeve to steer him into the bookstore before Tony said anything.

While Rhodey inquired about the book he had seen in the window, Tony noticed that they had escaped in the nick of time as the dogs’ owner got into a heated argument with the girl’s father. Someone flagged down a policeman to intervene. Another person was holding tightly on the now revived dino’s leash.

He had largely ignored the latest rage in pets. But Tony had distinctly low opinions of people who kept dinos as pets. Incidents like this reminded him why the idea of dinosaurs as pets was a terrible idea from start to finish. He’d heard the arguments about training, good breeding and handling. Tony remained unconvinced.

He checked his pocket watch. “We need to get going if we don’t want to miss the opening act.”

“Please have the book sent to my club,” Rhodey told the cashier.

They took a cab to the theatre so they would not be late. Rhodey didn’t support Tony’s fashionably late tendencies. Tony opted for coddling his best friend’s insistence on being on time for everything.

They arrived at the same time as other hurrying theatre goers. Rhodey checked their tickets while Tony quickly scanned the crowd. No one he had to greet -- then a large heavy mass landed against his back. “Pardon me, sir,” the low voice said politely.

Tony whirled around to see an embarrassed Captain Rogers. “Rogers,” he snapped, more from the annoyance of seeing the Captain than from being smacked into.

“Lord Stark,” Rogers said. “I am very sorry -- the crowd --”

“Right. Of course,” Tony replied. He noticed the slim red-headed woman accompanying Rogers. She was dressed for the theatre in a dark dress with simple trimmings and hat with veil and held an intricately beaded purse. Rogers was holding a cape that belonged to her in one hand, apparently interrupted in the process of leaving their outerwear at the coat check.

Tony had seen her before at the Club, he thought, Miss Romanoff could be the name. She coolly studied him back and turned to Rogers, dismissing Tony. “My ticket?”

“Of course, here,” Rogers replied, handing her a ticket from his pocket as she took the cape from his hand.

She nodded to Tony, then turned to the coat check. Great, now he had to deal with Rogers and his mysterious friend. Rogers glanced down at the floor before awkwardly saying, “I wish we’d met again under better circumstances --”

“Have you met Colonel Rhodes?” Tony asked, trying to pour all his good manners into his question. Because apparently Rogers had left his at home.

“Colonel Rhodes, a pleasure,” Rogers said, shaking Rhodey’s hand.

“The same. I heard about your recovery -- I wasn’t part of the team but I know of the good people involved,” Rhodey replied generously.

Rogers had a pinched look on his face. “Yes, well. Are you here to see the show?”

“Yes. We need to go to our seats, Rhodey. See you next week, Captain.” Tony steered Rhodey over to the stairwell that led up to their box.

“We should leave our coats --” Rhodey pointed over to the coat check.

“No time,” Tony said.

Rhodey was not particularly pleased with having to drape his coat over one of the seats in the box. “I wish you would just --” he said as he sat down next to Tony.

“What?” Tony asked.

“You don’t have to like the man -- though I don’t understand why you don’t -- but you don’t have to turn tail and avoid him either,” Rhodey said.

“Avoidance is the better part of valor.”

“That’s not how the saying goes.”

Tony pointedly looked at his playbill. Avoidance meant not having to hear awkward stammering about what a genius his father was.

There was a rattle at the door.

“I thought we had the box to ourselves,” Tony said to Rhodey.

“Apparently not.” Rhodey checked his ticket and seat number.

Tony groaned. It was Captain Rogers again and his rude friend. After introductions all around, Rhodey and Miss Romanoff surprisingly fell into easy conversation.

Unlike Rogers, who had inexplicably been given the seat next to Tony. He turned to Tony. “This is a surprise, Lord Stark.”

“You can say that again.”

Rogers nodded and Tony made a point to study his playbill. The lights flickered before Rogers made another painful attempt at conversation.

The stage manager came out and lifted a hand for the lights to stay on. “We have a distinguished guest here with us today. A round of applause for the gallant Captain Rogers.”

A light shone on their box and Rogers — to his credit — looked appalled at the thunderous applause. Still he gracefully stood and waved a hand to acknowledge the crowd.

The noise was loud enough to drown out Tony saying, “Oh, come on.”

It was always like this when Rogers appeared in public. Tony had seen it enough times to be thoroughly disgusted by the show. Finally, the applause died down, the lights dimmed and the curtain rose.

Rogers sat down and Tony snuck a glance at him. He seemed more closed off than ever before. If Tony didn’t know better, he would have thought that Rogers was embarrassed by the display. But people like Rogers wouldn’t be.

Tony banished any further thought of Rogers from his mind to pay attention to the show. It would have helped if Rogers actually laughed or applauded at the show. Rogers sat unnaturally still like a doll in his best suit and cravat, pretty as a picture and just as lively. Tony watched the show go on in absolute misery and was glad to slink out after the final curtain, leaving Rogers to be mobbed by the adoring crowd.

After returning to his house, Tony ripped off his tie and waistcoat, considering the night a complete wash.

~~~~~

On the night of the New Explorers’ Club dinner, Lord Tony Stark, lately of New Timely City, arrived to some fanfare at the Club in his version of a horseless carriage, a sporty number driven by his latest updated steam engine. He’d decided against bringing a companion for dinner. Pepper had received her own invite but preferred to have a rare night off.

He had arranged to meet Rhodey outside the ballroom near the coat check. He checked his cufflinks as he waited. All new couples were happy in the same way, caught up in each other and eager to show off their couplehood. Not that he was jealous of Rhodey. He couldn’t possibly be since he had watched Rhodey slowly fall for Captain Danvers. He watched his friends, arm in arm, walk towards him, with smiles on their faces.

It’d just be nice if for once it was him being one half of a happy couple.

“Rhodey, Captain Danvers,” Tony said as he nodded.

“You can call me Carol,” Carol said, tossing a smile at Rhodey as they marched into the ballroom, like they were ready to take on the world.

They were of course seated up front, though the printed name tags made the seating arrangements official. Carol and Rhodey headed towards the bar and Tony stole a glance at the other cards on the table. His shoulders slumped when he read Rogers’ name on the card at the seat next to his. A quick shuffle of the cards and the captain was safely seated across the table from him and separated by a barrier of the Pyms.

Now Tony hadn’t seen Hank Pym in ages, and he wondered why the famous recluse had ventured out for the dinner. Dinner would be served in an hour. He went to join Rhodey and Carol at the bar. As he turned, he saw Rogers walking towards him.

Rogers was not as impeccably turned out as Tony was. Not that Tony was an expert on clothes or the latest fashion, but he noticed details like the worn spot on Rogers’ lapel and the slight fray on the hem of his pants. “Captain,” he greeted the man.

“Lord Stark,” Rogers replied, startled out of his private thoughts. He shoved a wad of notes into his trousers’ pocket. “I wasn’t expecting --”

“Just wanted to see where we were seated. We seem to have been located for maximum drama.” Keeping it light, Pepper would have been proud.

Rogers blinked a couple of times, then looked around the ballroom before turning back to Tony. “I was not expecting to be seated up front.” He took a step to the side.

Tony knew when someone was attempting to escape him. Rogers clearly lacked the polish necessary for a smooth and charming exit. “Imagine the long walk from the back with all the applause.”

Rogers rocked back on his feet and shot him a skeptical look. “Applause?”

“You know -- people clapping their hands ….” Tony had a joke on the tip of his tongue but Rogers’ steady look killed off any possible amusement. “Okay, well. I will be making a few remarks, then it’s your turn in the spotlight.”

“Right.”

“Right.” Tony sidled around Rogers who stayed stuck in place looking past Tony to the stage.

“How long do you plan to talk?” Rogers asked unexpectedly, turning to look at the retreating Tony.

“Hmmm.” Pepper had drafted some remarks for him, but Tony had left them back in his office. “I’ve got notes, but I’m a spontaneous man, talking off the cuff is my specialty.”

Rogers simply nodded again and Tony took the opportunity to escape.

Tony found Rhodey not far from the bar, watching Carol talk to a crowd of admirers about her latest exploits in her custom airship. She wasn’t wearing her usual flight jacket and trousers, instead going for a gold dress trimmed with red and gold ribbons. Rhodey had that smitten look written all over his face.

Grabbing a drink, Tony waited with his friend. “You won’t believe who I ran into back there.”

“Rogers?”

“Easy guess.” Tony sipped his drink. He should have talked Pepper into coming with him. He could feel himself slipping into the role of the third-wheel already. “You can’t tell the difference between him and an automaton. Maybe that’s how he survived the Void.”

Rhodey looked thoughtfully at his drink. “More than thirty years is a long time to be away, Tony. Since his return, Rogers hasn’t exactly let the grass grow under his feet. He’s been Fury’s go-to man for expeditions. For me, I’m away from home for a week and the place feels different.”

“Whatever,” Tony grumped.

“Carol has a friend --”

“No set-ups, Rhodey.”

“We worry -- you’re all by yourself in that huge mansion …”

“I’ve got Pepper and the bots. I’m fine. And what’s this now -- ‘we’ worry?”

Rhodey blushed.

~~~~~

Janet Van Dyne lavished love and attention on the Club’s annual dinner. A member of the Board of Trustees since the club’s founding, she had presided over the dinner ever since she suggested the fundraiser. Decked out in exquisitely fashionable jewelry with a dazzling diamante hair comb tucked in her grey hair, she greeted Tony with a kiss for each cheek. “Lovely to be sitting at your table this year,” she said.

“Thought you wanted to be seated next to the famous Captain for Old Folks Homecoming or something like that.” Tony had known Jan for ages since he had become Lord Stark and sat on a number of the same philanthropic boards as Mrs. “ _Please call me, Jan, Tony_ ” Pym.

“Oh.” She looked at the cards. “I didn’t think that when I made the seating arrangements. The Captain clearly prefers your company to mine.” She laughed a little. “You young folks and your technology.”

“Why not you and Pym? You were in the War with Rogers.”

Jan considered thoughtfully for a minute. “No, we were all different back then -- different places, different times. There was a war and Hank was always in the lab working for the government. I had my own work. All I knew was that Captain Rogers was a hero from the papers and I had just met Hank. I should tell you that story sometime and think of the lovely stories you can tell your grandchildren.”

Tony watched Jan wave Pym over with a sinking feeling. She was on the verge of finding out Tony’s little subterfuge with the place cards.

“Lord Stark,” Pym said with all the enthusiasm of a wet noodle.

“Dr. Pym,” Tony replied. Tony had inherited Pym’s intense dislike for the senior Stark along with the family title, business and property.

“I see that my wife has whimsically decided to sit us next to each other. In case she is not sufficiently entertained by the evening’s program.”

“What?” Jan peered at the place cards. “Oh, that’s wrong.” She shuffled the cards back into place. “There, Hank, you’re next to Sam Wilson.”

“He sounds like one of Scott’s friends.”

“He’s one of Captain Rogers’ friends. He’s lovely.”

Dinner conversation dragged, of course, now that Tony had to entertain Captain Rogers. Rogers held himself stiffly and added very little to the lively conversation at dinner. Tony checked his pocket watch a few times to see when Fury would finally get the show on the road.

“Lord Stark?” Rogers asked, catching Tony looking at his watch.

“Just getting ready for the talk,” Tony said.

Rogers took a sheaf of paper out of his inner coat pocket. “Pays to be ready.”

 _To be bored_ , Tony added in his thoughts.

Fury tapped Tony on the shoulder. “Duty calls,” Tony said to Rogers.

A few short remarks. That’s all he had to do. “I am glad to introduce our main speaker this evening, a man you all already know from his legendary days in the Zeppelin wars to his New Explorers’ Club expedition, Captain Steven Rogers. He is here today to talk about his recent travels to Atlantis. I know you’re looking forward to this as much as I am.” Tony said.

He passed by an annoyed Rogers on the way back to the table. Jan leaned over towards him when Tony sat down. “You could have left off the sarcasm in the last line.”

“Really? I thought it added something,” Tony replied airily.

The crowd applauded as Rogers stood at the podium. “Thank you, Lord Stark, and thank you all for your warm welcome. I am here to talk about my recent expedition to Atlantis, funded generously by the New Explorers’ Club.”

Tony had planned to pretend to listen to Rogers during his talk. But he kept getting drawn into his descriptions of Atlantis, bolstered by the illustrated lantern slides that were projected on the wall behind him. Rogers shone under the low lighting, looking far more handsome than he should have and Tony found him more distracting than expected.

But then his attention was diverted by sharp whispers between Pym and his daughter Hope who had joined their table. As far as Tony could tell, Pym was agitated about something Hope had said over dinner. Pym talked in hushed tones during Rogers’ talk.

“Well, talk to him, get him on our side,” Pym urged.

“Dad, I don’t know about that. Fury is our best chance.”

“We lost a shipment in the Savage Land, well, not that we lost it -- someone stole our airship! We need to get it back.” Pym thumped the table.

The table next to them glared at Pym’s outburst. He nodded at them and continued to talk with Hope in a lower tone. Tony noticed that an old acquaintance, Dr. Banner, was seated at that table. Bruce gave him a wave.

Rogers answered a few questions from the audience. He said in conclusion, “Thank you for a wonderful evening. And remember, we as members of the New Explorers’ Club have a duty to protect the wonderful plants and animals of our world, to stop their exploitation and save their native environments.” He nodded and bowed during the audience’s thunderous applause.

Now that the main event of the evening was over, it was time to leave. Tony caught up to Bruce as the crowd was leaving the ballroom. “Bruce -- glad to see you’re back in town,” Tony said happily as he shook Bruce’s hand.

“I returned yesterday,” Bruce explained.

“Terrific, contact Pepper and we’ll get you set up with a job in no time.”

“I’ve got a new appointment at the university. I’m staying with Thor Odinson -- he couldn’t come tonight, so he gave me his ticket.”

“We should catch up.”

“Yes -- intriguing talk by the Captain, by the way. I did not expect the lantern slides and illustrations. Is it true that Captain Rogers drew all those himself? That’s what people were saying at my table.”

“I do not know,” Tony admitted. He couldn’t quite imagine the exquisite drawings presented during Rogers’ talk as being done by the Captain himself.

“I’ll be sure to ask -- good to see you, Tony,” Bruce said, shaking Tony’s hand again.

~~~~~

Captain Steve Rogers, Grand Army of the Republic (retired), sat down to read the morning paper and eat his breakfast. He looked over the edge of the page at the coffee machine bubbling away merrily on the counter. Sam likely turned on the wondrous machine just before Steve came in.

He still was not used to all the amazing machines that now filled the city. Steve had to stop himself from staring at the occasional horseless carriage in the streets or the new improved zeppelins in the air above. He had gone to a restaurant the other day and listened to music coming from a mechanical player piano.

The coffee machine was something else though, a little miracle of gears and steam, a proud gift from its creator, Lord Stark. Steve had been completely unprepared when Stark made a show of revealing his gift at a luncheon at the New Explorers’ Club. He had not been at his best that day, being on edge all day since he woke up. Somehow, Steve thought he had escaped the performing monkey circuit when he fell into the void. But there he was, being shown off like one of the new exhibits at the Club. Then Stark threw the machine at Steve, clearly expecting Steve to be deeply enthralled and enthused.

Steve was not. And that’s how he started off on the wrong foot with Stark.

Since then, Steve had come to deeply appreciate the machine and its excellent coffee. He shook out the pages of his paper, unable to read or distract himself. He had to be at the Club in two hours for Fury’s meeting. Not that Steve had an idea of what the meeting was about.

He had the money for a cab to the Club, a fact that still amazed Steve who had grown up poor in a rundown part of the city. The tenement he’d lived in had long been torn down to make room for brownstone buildings, like the one Steve currently lived in. Modern, spacious, full of light and air, decorated according to the current taste with fantastic printed wallpapers, rented furniture and accessories.

Maybe Fury would have a new expedition for Steve. He’d been in New Timely for a couple of months now and he was already itching to go out again. Pack up his few belongings and break his lease and head out into the wilds of the world. If not, he would follow up with T’Challa, who had broadly hinted at a job for Steve.

He left a note for Sam and Natasha about his appointment at the Club on the small table in the hallway in case they came home early from their errands. Natasha was calling on friends in the city and Sam wanted fresh air.

~~~~~

“Fury offer you an expedition?” Sam asked.

They had gone out to dinner at sidewalk cafe. Nat already had plans for checking in on an old friend. Though Steve suspected that was a cover story. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what Fury was up to. He hadn’t talked like the executive director of an explorer’s club. Steve had a sinking feeling that he had worked with people like Fury before, back in the Zeppelin War.

The whole street was busy with people out enjoying the sweet summer evening. They had been seated outside, which Sam loved. He loved people watching and flirting when he could. Steve sipped his wine and listened to Sam point out people in the street and the carriages rumbling by.

Steve could still feel the chill magic of the void clinging to his skin, even on a beautiful evening like this. What he could palpably feel was what he was missing out on. The world had moved on, leaving him in the dust. He couldn’t get a handle on anything going on. New books, new art, new stage shows.

Maybe Fury was the most familiar thing of all.

“There’s a band concert in the City Gardens this weekend. Maybe we could find a couple of dates, get a picnic lunch …” Sam painted a lovely picture of a Saturday afternoon out in the sun.

Steve panicked a bit. He’d done that before with Bucky back before the war. He’d struck out then, he’d strike out now. He didn’t even know anyone he could even ask out. He sort of knew Sharon, the curator of the club museum, but not well enough.

His lizard brain prompted an image of Tony Stark, reminding him how much he enjoyed Stark’s company. When Stark was not angry with him.

Steve fumbled putting his glass down on the table, rattling the plates and the silverware and nearly splashing the wine out of the glass. He tamped down the completely ridiculous and strange idea for a Saturday date. He needed more sleep.

“Okay there, Steve?” Sam asked.

“You know, just, yeah,” Steve stumbled over words. “That sounds great.”

“Hmmmm. We can talk about it more.” Sam fished out a letter from his coat pocket. “Someone slid this letter through the mail slot this afternoon.”

The envelope was addressed to Captain Rogers, but had no stamp, no street address or other identifying marks. Steve flipped it back and forth. “No sign of who dropped this off?”

“None -- I don’t have even an idea of when it arrived. I walked by the front door and saw it. Just remembered to give it to you.”

Steve used a butter knife to slice through the seal on the back of the letter. Nothing inside the envelope. He carefully unfolded the letter, years of booby-trapped communications had trained Steve to be wary.

“Salutations, Captain Rogers. I attended your lecture the other night and heard your call to be protective of native species and fauna. You should know about the illegal trade in dinosaurs from the Savage Land. I can show you evidence. If you or a person of your choosing -- I am assuming that a man of your stature is very busy -- can meet me, put your response in the hedges outside your house by tomorrow afternoon. Please excuse the secrecy -- but people with money and influence are involved and are willing to do anything to protect their merchandise. Sincerely, Wanda Maximoff.”

He handed the letter over to Sam. “Take a look.”

“Is this something to take seriously?” Sam asked.

Steve rubbed his chin. “Fury asked me about going on an expedition to the Savage Land for the New Explorers’ Club today.”

“When were you going to say something about that?” Sam asked. “Sounds like a great idea.”

“He said he was going to have a meeting with the expedition sponsors in a couple of days but wanted to sound out my interest first.” Steve frowned as he thought over the meeting. “He said it was about collection specimens for the collections. I don’t think that’s the entire reason.” He shook his head. “You know Fury. He was keen that Natasha come along as well.”

“Dinosaurs exist in the Savage Land.”

“It couldn’t hurt to meet this Miss Maximoff.”

“Could be a crank letter or --”

“Something more.”

“Right. I can meet her at the New Explorers’ Club to assess the situation first. Then you can come in.”

Steve nodded slowly. It wouldn’t be the first crank letter that he had received, promising danger and conspiracies. With his training, Sam was quick to winnow out the wheat from the chaff and Steve relied on him to screen out the crazies.

“Sounds good. I’ll leave a message in the hedge.”

“This Miss Maximoff could live in the neighborhood.”

“Or not. My address is common knowledge if you have connections to the Club. I can ask Sharon --”

“And while you’re asking Sharon, ask her to join us for the concert too.”

Steve nodded. Maybe he could do that.

~~~~~

Steve saw Sam waiting for him in the courtyard of the New Explorers’ Club as they had planned. The young woman with him was likely the woman who had written to him about the smuggling ring. She sat uneasily on the edge of the fountain, furtively glancing at the doors and gates. She started from her seat, until Sam put a hand on her arm.

“This is Captain Rogers,” Sam explained to her.

“Captain Rogers, I am glad to meet you,” the young woman said. “I am Wanda Maximoff -- I wrote to you about the animal smuggling in New Timely. Mister Wilson said that you were interested in my information.”

Miss Maximoff did not appear to be a woman of any means. Her red and brown clothes were worn and mended carefully, but otherwise she was presentable, brown hair tucked up under a wide-brimmed hat and her gloves were clean and without spots. Steve noted the unusual number of hat pins holding the hat in place and the way she wore the hat to obscure her face.

“We’re in a safe place,” Sam urged. “You can tell us.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m involved with very dangerous people. They’d kill me if they knew I was talking to you.”

“That’s why you didn’t go to the police?” Steve asked.

“There's a lot of money involved and the police move slowly.” Miss Maximoff sighed. “I’m not sure that the police would see this as a problem.”

“The problem?”

“The smuggling of exotic animals into New Timely. I talked to a lawyer and he couldn’t find any laws about it.” She wrung the handkerchief in her hands over and over. “I thought that since you are involved with the Explorers’ Club and that you’ve spoken out about exploitation and all that, maybe you could help.”

“Maybe we can. I can’t say for sure unless I know what the crime is.”

“Smuggling of exotic animals -- there’s a market near the docks no one notices. No one respectable goes near.” She dropped her shoulders. “My family knows ways to move cargo around without government involvement.”

“Not through customs,” Sam clarified.

“Not through customs or banks, no taxes, paperwork, or questions. It’s just my brother Pietro and I now -- we’re just a means of getting things from one place to another and we are very small cogs in the machine.”

“Magic,” Steve said disapprovingly.

“Maybe,” Miss Maximoff replied, with a glint in her eye. “Does it matter if animal lives are on the line?” She looked around again, clearly still uneasy about the courtyard. “I need to show you.”

“You feel safe bringing us to the market?” Steve asked,

“I grew up there. It is home. No one will question me. Not where I am taking you.”

They took a horse cab down to the Customs House near the docks. Steve stepped out of the cab, into the afternoon sunlight. Longshoremen, traders, and all sorts of people milled about the line of warehouses.

Miss Maximoff tugged on his sleeve and flicked her fingers in an odd pattern. Steve felt the familiar tug of magic and almost resisted until he saw that she was putting a glamor on Sam and him. “You need a disguise,” she explained. “You don’t belong where we’re going.”

Her point was underscored by the faded poster of Steve from the Zeppelin War still plastered on an old warehouse wall. Sam arched an eyebrow at Steve, who pointedly ignored the poster. “Lead on,” Steve said.

They went through twisty paths through alleyways filled with crates and trash and warehouses which grew more dilapidated and rundown as they moved away from the main port areas. Miss Maximoff fit more into the setting, her clothes and odd manners a piece with the people they saw.

She stopped in front of a large gloomy warehouse with a few hard-looking people lingering in front of the solid wooden doors. “Wanda,” one of them said.

“Checking in on Pietro’s shipments,” she said. “I needed some extra muscle. You know Pietro.”

The man looked Steve and Sam over and then waved them through. “Got to keep that boy on a short leash, Wanda.”

Sam opened the door and they were not prepared for the huge market in front of them. Stalls and crates and people filled the warehouse. They walked past women hawking herbs from Latveria and fish from Atlantis. Miss Maximoff smiled and nodded at the vendors as they made their way to her destination.

That’s when Steve noticed the people selling dinosaur eggs and the cages filled with small dinosaurs. He put a hand on her arm. “Miss Maximoff -- this --”

She flashed a wary smile at him. “This is where the dinosaurs come from -- the pets that people are tripping over themselves to buy.”

“This isn’t right,” Sam muttered.

Miss Maximoff walked over to one stall, beckoning to them to follow her. The seller was nowhere to be found. “Where’s Warner?” she asked one of the men in a neighboring stall.

“Jail -- that’s what his old lady told me last night. Ain’t seen him in since yesterday. I’ve been feeding his last dino. The old lady sold off the rest.”

Steve bent down to see a dinosaur curled up in a cage, laying on a few scraps of paper with an empty water bowl nearby. He pushed a finger through the bars to touch the dino. Its skin was far too cool to the touch and it squawked weakly as Steve patted it. He looked worriedly at Sam, who was already looking for a source of water.

Taking the initiative, Miss Maximoff said, “I have a customer for this one so we’re going to take it.”

Sam came back with a bottle filled with water. He dipped the cleanest rag into the water and offered it to the dinosaur. The dinosaur roused a bit to suck on the rag. Meanwhile Steve worked on the lock, finally jiggering it open.

“We should get going,” Miss Maximoff urged.

Steve tucked the small dinosaur with the water-soaked rag inside his jacket to warm it up. “We’re good to go.”

No one said anything until they were out of the crowded, dilapidated warehouse and back on the path towards the Customs House and the bright sun.

Steve could feel the beating heart of the dinosaur against his chest. He worried about the labored breathing and didn’t care about the claws biting into his skin.

“Is it always like this?” Sam asked Miss Maximoff quietly.

“This one has some hope. It doesn’t end like this for most of the dinosaurs.”

“We need to go home,” Steve said to Sam.

“Do you trust us now?” Sam asked Miss Maximoff.

She peered at the tuft of baby feathers poking out of Steve’s unbuttoned jacket. “I have to. Please call me Wanda. It’s nicer that way.”

~~~~~

Back at Steve and Sam’s house, Wanda helped them create a soft box nest for the baby dinosaur and set the box in front of the fire. As far as they could tell, it was a young Aquilops, maybe a few weeks old. “These dinosaurs are in high demand,” Wanda explained. “They are vegetarians and naturally the size of house cats. Dealers trim the beak down because of the sharpness.”

“They ship them in from the Savage Land,” Steve said.

“Yes. In large lots. I know about that side of the trade. The dealers will sell anything, lie to people about the size of the dinosaurs, anything to make a sale. There’s a lot of money to be made, especially if you don’t care about the animals.” She reached down to pet the baby.

“You know the supply chain? Who’s at the top? The whole deal?” Sam asked.

“I’m just a middle person -- Pietro and I have already stopped being involved with transport. We don’t know where the dinosaurs come from -- we’d get a contact from someone in Iceland and that was it.”

Steve studied the baby sleeping in front of them. Wanda had already made a list of appropriate food and other things that they should know.

“I hope that you can do something, anything. We know all about your history, Captain Rogers -- champion and hero. I can only do a little here and there, like rescue little ones like our friend there. But this needs to stop.”

~~~~~

Sam found Steve the next morning sitting at the kitchen table with the baby Aquilops on his lap. The dinosaur peeped at Sam when he came through the door. Steve had a dish of mixed vegetables on the table and was feeding half of a brussel sprout to the dinosaur.

“I can see the appeal of a dino pet,” he admitted.

“Redwing is cute,” Steve said. “Her beak is very sharp. We’ll need to watch her around the curtains.” He held up his arm, marked with scratches.

“Redwing? You’ve already named the dino?”

“She has a bit of red coloring. Redwing is a she, too. Based on my reading.”

Sam patted her head. “What now?”

“I’m going to take Fury up on his offer for an expedition. We could use that as a cover for investigating. Nat would be good for that.”

“Good idea.”

~~~~~

Fury summoned Tony to a meeting at the club. Tony was unexpectedly ushered into the large Founder’s Conference Room where Fury, Pym and T’Challa were already sitting. “Lord Stark,” Fury acknowledged, barely looking up from his map.

“Hello,” Tony replied. He sat next to T’Challa as he felt the need for an ally in the room, given Pym’s intense dislike of anything Stark and the lack of Jan or Hope as a buffer. He’d hit it off with King T’Challa a couple of years ago at an event at the Club over a discussion of rare metals.

Pym scowled at Fury. “This is the help you’d said you’d give me?”

“Not everyone is here yet. And this is not about you.”

“Indeed not,” T’Challa said.

“What is going on here?” Tony asked sharply. He glanced around the table from impassive Fury to fuming and huffing Pym.

“Captain,” Fury said with a nod as Rogers walked into the room.

Rogers sat down across the table from Tony. For all Tony could tell, it did not appear that Rogers was surprised by the meeting. He could not help but determine that he was the only one there who had not been let in on the great secret of the meeting. Rogers adjusted his jacket sleeve, revealing scratches on his wrist before he tugged his sleeve down.

“Gentlemen, thank you for joining me today.”

“Cut to the chase, Fury. This is about my expedition to the Savage Land. I’ve been asking for the Club’s backing for years so I can continue my research --” Pym said.

“No, this is about stopping the smuggling of Wakandan technology,” T’Challa corrected.

Tony turned to Rogers, who gave him a puzzled look back. Right. Tony was the money and Rogers the muscle. Just how Fury was going to connect all the loose threads was the only mystery left. And Tony was along for the ride.

Fury held up his hand. “The Club is commissioning an expedition to the Savage Land. To locate items to be added to the Club’s collections and for display in the museum.”

“That does not sound --”

“Dr. Pym, the expedition will be apprised of your concerns. My understanding is that Wakanda would be a good place to start from for an expedition of the sort we are planning.”

T’Challa looked thoughtful and then nodded slowly. “I would approve. Though I would of course, limit your people’s access to our borders.”

“Naturally.”

“I can anticipate that Captain Rogers will be the expedition leader?” Pym asked.

Rogers narrowed his eyes but still sat straight up in his chair, his hand still on the table. “Director Fury asked me about leading another expedition but did not explain the details.”

“Good, Savage Land. Excellent destination. I’m sure Captain Rogers is excited to go since that place is warm. Unlike his last trip to the North. Since that’s all decided, I call this meeting a rousing success.” Tony got up from the table.

“Captain Rogers asked if you would be the Chief Science officer if I hired him for the proposed expedition.”

Tony whipped his head around to look at Rogers. “You asked for me?”

Rogers blinked. “You are the best choice,” he said as if there weren’t any other choices. Tony could name over twenty scientists in less than five seconds who would jump at the chance to work with Rogers. He was not one of them.

“I should warn you, Captain. Lord Stark, while an admirable scientist, is far from being a suitable man for the job,” Pym interjected. “His history is well known.”

To his credit, Rogers looked supremely unimpressed by Pym’s comments. “Director Fury, is there anything else?” Rogers asked.

“Stark -- you in?” Fury asked.

Tony should say no, that he would be glad to send in a check when asked. But he was still stunned by Rogers’ comment and his mouth answered before his head ruled it out. “Yes, I would be glad to join. Can I assemble my own science team?”

“Yes, that makes a lot of sense.” Rogers turned to T’Challa. “Your majesty? What do you say?”

T’Challa paused thoughtfully. “I am not inclined to join an expedition. But I trust that you would do a good job with it. Director Fury and I have more to discuss, I think.”

Tony and Rogers knew when they’d been dismissed. Though Tony wondered why exactly the King of Wakanda would have asked the Director of the New Explorers’ Club for help to uncover a smuggling ring.

Outside in the hallway, Rogers asked, “We should meet to talk about the expedition. When we will leave, the objectives, and other arrangements.”

“I have Miss Potts make room on my schedule for a meeting,” Tony replied airily. “This sort of thing doesn’t need that much planning.”

“It’s not a weekend trip to your country house,” Rogers said.

“I assumed it was different, but it’s not like we’re going a five-year voyage somewhere either. Talk to you later, Captain.”

~~~~~

“It’s an expedition. To the Savage Land,” Rhodey repeated back to Tony.

They were seated at their favorite table at Rhodey’s club, with an excellent steak dinner and well-aged wine. Rhodey’s club was all wood and thick carpets, the very epitome of an old established organization dedicated to the needs of the military. They even had a framed tribute painting of the war hero Captain Rogers installed just off the lobby.

“It’s not like a trip to your country house,” Rhodey added.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. It’s not one of those expeditions either where a group of people go into the uncharted forests and come out five years later. We go to the Savage Land, pick up some specimens, head back home. Might even get to see Wakanda too. Who knows?” Tony swirled his wine and smiled. “The question is -- are you in?”

“I have a job, Tony, with the Air Ship Force high command. I can’t drop everything for some trip.”

“You know you want to. It will be fun times just like when we were in university. Lots of laughs, sciencing, the whole hog.”

Rhodey pushed the remains of his potatoes and leeks on his plate with a bit of a frown on his face. He sighed and then grinned at Tony. Tony knew he had Rhodey hooked and now all he had to do was reel him in. “You could ask me to think it over all night, and I’d still have to say no, Tones. If I didn’t have the promotion coming up or Carol --”

“Carol could come,” Tony blurted out.

“She’d drive you crazy and she wouldn’t go somewhere where she couldn’t fly.”

Tony balled up his napkin and tossed on the table. “Who do I need to talk to to get you off the Air Ship hook?”

“No one. I’ve been working on this promotion and it’s at a delicate point -- so, no, I can’t go traipsing off through the jungle right now. No matter how fun it sounds.”

“You’re leaving me alone with Rogers. How can you desert me like that?”

“What about Pepper?”

“Staying in New Timely to manage my affairs and the company.”

“Captain Rogers isn’t the worst person you’ve worked with. Actually I would trust him head and shoulders and body above your last business partner.”

“Let’s not talk about Stane.” Tony involuntarily shuddered at the name. “Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone.”

“I can’t promise anything. But maybe you could pick up a dinosaur pet on your trip? One of my cousin’s kids really wants one and she’s been a good kid.”

“Dinosaur pet?” Tony asked. “I didn’t know you’d want one --”

“They’re hard to get -- a house-bred velociraptor can go for a couple of thousand dollars.”

“Who would want a velociraptor in their house? Seriously, Rhodey. Velociraptor. That can’t end well for the people or the velociraptors.”

“My understanding is that these are bred to be small, like large dogs.”

“Right.”

“I know that you aren’t a fan --”

“Dogs are good pets, Rhodey. Fuzzy, loyal. You can’t go wrong there.”

Rhodey shrugged. “No one I know seems to have an issue with a dino pet. Ill-trained dogs and dinosaurs have the same problems.”

Tony frowned. He pursed his lips as he pondered why exactly he disliked the dinosaurs as pets fad. “People have had dinosaurs as pets for only three years. Dinosaurs need specific environments and care. Who knows what conditions dinos are living in now, in the city. Are they getting the right food, care and medical treatment? And they have to be coming from somewhere -- are they being smuggled in from the Savage Land for starters? What about breeding -- you don’t get cat-sized dinosaurs from the natural sized version without some intervention? And is that good for the dinosaur?”

“All right. You sound like an Anti-Dinosaur crusader there, Tones. I wouldn’t be asking about a dino if my niece wouldn’t be a responsible pet owner. My family has had every pet under the sun from dogs and cats to birds and guinea pigs and lizards.”

He shook his head and the waiter rushed over to add more wine to Tony’s glass. The slight interruption broke the tension. Tony picked up his wine glass and swirled the wine, not sure how to say ‘no’ to Rhodey, his best friend.

Rhodey continued, “Carol’s best friend has two --- miniature triceratops, I think -- they’re great around her daughter and Monica loves them to pieces.”

“I’ll keep my eye out.”

“A vegetarian dinosaur, that's what Lila wants.”

Tony replied. “That’s a small comfort.”

Rhodey put his fork down. “For me -- Come back in one piece, Tony, that’s all I ask. I don’t want to be called in for another rescue if you go missing.”

~~~~~

“Pepper, have you heard about the latest rage in pet dinosaurs?” Tony asked.

Pepper smoothed her dress before sitting down in her usual chair. “Yes, small dinosaurs have been very popular pets the past few months. You hadn’t noticed?”

“I’ve seen them at a distance.”

“Stark Industries has rules about bringing your dino to work and I don’t think pets are generally welcome at galas --”

“When did we have to put into place rules about that?”

“Untrained brontosaurus ate all the plants in the San Francisco office.”

“Hmm. Where do people get their dinos?”

“No, Tony, not a dino -- you can’t --”

He waved her off. “I don’t need a pet. I just can’t see someone owning a brontosaurus for the long haul. The only place where dinosaurs are wild is the Savage Land. How did we get here from there?”

“I don’t know.” She paused. “There was a singer who had one, then they were everywhere in the fashion magazines and society papers. A lot of my friends are on waiting lists. The demand is very high.”

“That can’t be legal or good for the dinosaurs,” Tony muttered. He flicked his fingers, thinking of all that could go wrong. “While I’m gone, keep track of that brontosaur, make sure it’s taken care of and find a home when it needs one.”

“Will do. Time to talk about running Stark Industries while you are gone.”

~~~~~

Recruiting for the latest New Explorers’ Club expedition to the Savage Land was easy, anticipating working with Rogers was not. Rogers reached out first, asking Tony to meet at the Club to discuss the proposed roster. By the time of the meeting, Tony had worked himself up into expecting Rogers to dictate to him how the roster was going to be filled.

After all, apparently all Tony was good for was the money. And maybe the science.

Due to the sudden nature of the expedition, the team had been allotted a small room, already filled with spare equipment from other expeditions. Tony could smell the dust when Rogers unlocked the door.

For once, Rogers was not awkwardly standing or looking lost. Even though he was clad in civilian dress, he acted like a military officer, efficient in actions and words. Tony had not seen this side of him before -- the side that all the history books portrayed.

Rogers politely offered Tony first choice of the broken and marginally serviceable chairs in the room. Tony sat down. “Fury could have given us something better.”

“I was told that all the offices were already assigned,” Rogers replied. He set down a beaten fabric messenger bag on the table. He wiped off the dust and grabbed a folder from the pile he pulled from his bag.

“Still, anything other than this.”

Ignoring Tony, Rogers opened with, “We already have a few members -- you, me, my friends Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff. Clint Barton, Natasha’s friend. Hope Pym and her -- her -- her whatever Scott Lang are coming along too.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. “Hope and her whatever?” Hank Pym was probably expecting her to spy for him.

“Fury’s concession to Dr. Pym,” Rogers explained.

“You trust them? Van Dyne and Lang?” Tony looked dubiously at the messenger bag that had clearly seen better days and was now held together by patches and pins.

Rogers was shuffling through papers and didn’t look up at Tony. “I don’t see why not to yet. How is your team?”

“Dr. Bruce Banner agreed this morning. Excellent scientist. He wants to bring along his friend, Thor Odinson.”

Rogers wrote down the names. “Mr. Odinson is --”

“An explorer, from what I’ve been told.” Tony drummed his fingers on the table. “Bruce and I can handle any sciencing that comes up. I’m assuming that Pym has given you a list of specimens to collect. Wait -- are any of King T’Challa’s people joining us?”

Rogers replied, “T’Challa is supporting the expedition through a large donation and will be providing supplies when we go to Wakanda. He wasn’t keen on any Wakandans on the trip and neither was Fury. For now. That might change.”

Then he tapped the table with his pencil. “I am considering asking Wanda and Pietro Maximoff to join us.”

Tony had never heard of them. “And their claim to fame is --?”

“Animal handlers. And, um, Miss Maximoff uses magic.” Now Rogers was looking at Tony, waiting for a reaction to the idea of bringing a magic user along.

“I’m not keen on that,” Tony admitted. He studied Rogers for any sign of his thoughts on the matter. Tony had assumed that Rogers would be dead set against any magic user given his years in the Void.

“That or the animal handling?”

“Are you sure?”

Rogers hesitated. His eyes dropped to the side and then he turned back at his papers, struggling over something. He huffed finally and said, “Yes. Do you want anyone else?” He pushed the roster over to Tony.

“I could use a botanist.”

“Do you know someone?”

Tony frowned as he looked at the roster. “Wait -- Miss van Dyne has a background in botany, I think -- or whatever Pym studied. I could use her.”

“Good. We’re set then.”

“Right.”

Rogers showed pure genius in planning the expedition. They would take airships courtesy of Carol Danvers down to the Wakandan border. T’Challa would provide the steam ship to the Savage Land and the expedition supplies. He gave Tony information about the room he would be allotted for his scientific equipment. They quickly decided on timelines and departure dates. Then suddenly the meeting was over.

Tony walked out of the meeting, even had a spring in his step as he thought about the expedition possibilities. Rogers had a plan and Tony had ideas.

Maybe this could work if Rogers stuck to his work and left Tony alone.


	2. Chapter 2

On the day of departure, Tony arrived with his luggage, tools and other scientific equipment. Only the best for his team. Which now included Jane Foster, recommended by Mr. Odinson. She was an astronomer with a Club endorsement.

He had been assigned to Rogers’ airship. Natasha was in charge of the other airship and Barton was handling the cargo airship. At least they would be traveling in relative modern comfort for the first leg of the journey.

Turned out that Tony had arrived fashionably late for the departure. Happy unloaded the luggage. “Are you sure about this, boss?” he asked.

“You bet,” Tony replied.

Besides the official reason for his joining the expedition, Tony planned on figuring out how dinosaurs were taken from the Savage Land, bound for pet stores in New Timely and other places. He’d made inquiries during the weeks of planning. No one he found or any of his leads had solid information on how the dinosaurs were arriving. But there was a breeding association already dedicated to establishing formal standards for dinosaurs and the board of governors refused to discuss the likely illegal origins of their supposedly well-bred pets.

Tony settled into his cabin, spacious for others, cramped for him and set up a portable and compact field workshop, considering the trip would take a few days. He couldn’t bear not tinkering on something during the journey, even if he attempted to restrict himself to prepping and improving expedition equipment.

He had also decided that Rogers was not entirely dreadful and awful company. But Tony hadn’t reached a spot where he could easily tolerate the man. He was counting on the size of the team and their specific duties to limit their interactions. Otherwise the next six months would drag.

Alone in his cabin, Tony thought long and hard about reaching out towards the Captain. He’d made attempts before, when Rogers returned to the land of the living. It hadn’t gone well then and he had little hopes now. But he did have to work with Rogers. Maybe checking in before takeoff would not be amiss.

There was the single floor of cabins on this airship and Rogers’ cabin was located near the bow. Tony knocked on the door a few times, before he decided to find Rogers another time.

“Lord Stark?” Rogers asked, opening the door a crack.

“I wanted to check in about the cargo and if you had word that my equipment had been loaded into Barton’s ship.”

“I will check if there’s any news. I have received word that we will be departing within the hour.”

Tony heard the door rattle and looked down to see a dinosaur beak poking out of the crack. “Captain?”

“Redwing,” Rogers scolded.

He tried to pull the door shut, but Redwing pushed a little harder and bounded out of the cabin. The little dinosaur pecked Tony’s leg and squawked at him. “You brought your dinosaur along?”

Rogers sighed. “Long story. Redwing, come here.”

Redwing waved her tail at Tony before returning back to Rogers, who was holding out a treat to her.

“You didn’t tell me about this,” Tony snapped.

“It was a last minute decision,” Rogers said. “I promise -- she won’t bother you.”

Tony gave Rogers an appraising look. He had not thought that Rogers was one who said one thing and did another; Rogers had called for an end to animal trafficking at the annual dinner, it had been covered in the papers. Clearly the man had his talents when it came to organization, but otherwise Tony just couldn’t see what anyone else, like his father and Fury, saw in the man. He owned a dinosaur for one thing, that couldn’t possibly speak to any intelligence.

He glanced down at the dinosaur sitting on her haunches and regarding him with curiosity. “Make sure that you don’t,” Tony said sharply.

“What did you want to see me about?” Rogers said, drawing up to his full height and dropping any semblance of informality.

“I wanted to go over shipping manifestos for my equipment. I can write up my concerns and relay them to you later.”

“Or maybe now?”

Redwing was eyeing his new boots as a possible food source. Tony took a step backwards. “No, I need to work on the inventory.” He turned heel and left.

~~~~~

The expedition members on the airship gathered for drinks before dinner in the airship saloon. The well-appointed saloon with its wood paneling, woven rugs, thick curtains and leather chairs could have easily passed for any of the saloons in Tony’s clubs. Except for the brilliant sunset shining off the passing clouds in the saloon windows.

As Tony had already noted, most of the expedition crew had been given quarters on this airship. He had already met Wilson at the Annual Dinner. Bruce introduced him to Thor and the renowned Dr. Foster. Tony nodded good evening to Hope Van Dyne on his way to the bar. As he poured himself a drink, he saw Scott Lang, Van Dyne’s plus one for the expedition, peppering Captain Rogers with questions.

The Captain appeared a bit flustered as he tried to escape. Van Dyne jumped up. “Come on, Scott, others probably want to talk to the Captain.”

“Oh, he’s fine,” Tony replied dismissively. “The most action he’s seen since Atlantis, I’m sure.”

Tony ignored the quizzical looks from the others as he walked over to Bruce. Rogers appeared lost for a moment until he found Sam by the window.

Bruce said, “We’ve got a long way to go to the Savage Land.”

“Short trip by airship, long trip by cargo ship, then six weeks in the jungle or more, it will fly by,” Tony said.

“You make it sound easy,” Dr. Foster said. “I hope to get my observations in.”

“As long you’re not interrupted by the Captain’s latest acquisition,” Tony said.

“Acquisition?” she asked.

“His pet dinosaur. Our newest and least known travel companion.”

Rogers had a fleeting pained look on his face. But he turned back to the window and whatever conversation he was having with Sam. Tony ignored the rising tension in the room as he joked with Bruce about his latest invention.

A steward announced that dinner was served in the adjoining room. The expedition members immediately left for the dining room.

“Lord Stark? A word before dinner?” Captain Rogers asked before Tony escaped.

“Yes? Hope it’s quick. Dinner’s waiting.”

They were now alone in the saloon. “I had hoped to keep news of my pet quiet -- I hadn’t told the rest of the expedition that Redwing was here.”

“We are going to spend time in camp -- it’s not like you’d be hiding her there.”

Steve continued. “I value group cohesion and it’s important for us to work together. We’ll need to trust and have each other’s back in the Savage Land. If you have doubts about the expedition, arrangements can be made in Port City --”

“I plan to see this through, Captain,” Tony replied.

“Good. I look forward to working together.”

“Dinner first though.”

Captain Rogers held the door to the dining room open for him.

~~~~~

Everyone had heard of the mysterious Wakanda, land of a misty distant mountain and advanced technology. T’Challa had made it clear that while he supported the expedition as he had supported earlier expeditions sponsored by the New Explorers’ Club, he was refusing entry into Wakanda proper. Instead the air hips were landing at a terminal at a port within the Wakandan protectorate.

Rogers suggested that Tony come with him to meet the Wakandan ambassador, in case T’Challa had left messages for them. “I see that the Dora Milaje are out in force,” Tony said as he noticed the well-armed women strategically stationed through the port city on their way to the Wakandan Embassy. “The royal family in town?”

“Hmmm,” Rogers said. “I’ll need to send a message to Sam that we’ll be coming back later than expected.”

A contingent of Dora Milaje met them at the Embassy, and escorted them through a back door, out into a market and up the backstairs of a restaurant. T’Challa was seated at the table. “Please,” he said, indicating where Tony and Rogers should sit.

Behind him, there was a stunning view of the city stretching down to the harbor. Once Tony was settled into his seat, T’Challa rattled off an order to a waiting man, likely a waiter. Tony didn’t know a single word of Xhosa so lunch was going to be a surprise. Then T’Challa dismissed everyone else from the room.

“My presence is a secret here. Hence the security,” T’Challa explained.

“Director Fury said that you might meet us here,” Rogers said. Tony did a double take at Steve’s comment.

“Indeed, I have a great interest in the success of the expedition.” He sipped from a glass. “I am sure that Director Fury relayed to you my concerns, in case you find anything.”

“What does this technology look like?”

T’Challa sighed. “Not technology exactly, but a metal. Not like your steel. Vibranium.”

“Vibranium,” Tony exhaled. “The rarest metal on earth -- one of my mentors at the university had a tiny sample of it.” He turned to Rogers. “Dr. Yinsen had to keep it under lock and key, in case someone attempted to steal it. I was allowed to briefly handle the sample. I’ve never seen another bit of vibranium since then.”

“One of the highest duties of the king of Wakanda is to protect and preserve our vibranium sources. I take it personally when I hear about misplaced vibranium. I would like to retrieve the missing ore.”

“You think we’ll find it on our expedition?” Tony asked.

“My people investigating the vibranium have followed the ring from the leak in Wakanda to this port. As far as we have learned, the vibranium was then loaded onto a ship headed to the Savage Land. But yet, we have found nothing about that ship since it left. We have contacts everywhere and yet, the ship disappeared. No one has heard a single thing about since it left this port.”

Rogers said, “The Savage Land is extensive and mostly unexplored -- I can’t guarantee we could find what you are looking for.”

T’Challa tipped his head forward, acknowledging the comment. “Yet, my interpretation of what has been found so far seems to me to indicate only a few possibilities. There is no city in the Savage Land, not even a colony or rudimentary port. There remain numerous dangers that discourage exploration and settlement. So the ship could only pull into one harbor.”

He pulled out a map and unrolled it on the table. “This is the most up-to-date map we have been able to secure of the Savage Land.” T’Challa pointed to the harbor. “Here is the only deep water bay that anyone knows of that ships can use.”

“And where our next destination is,” Rogers said.

T’Challa pointed out a couple additional landmarks on the map. “That volcano could perhaps hide a lab.”

Tony pondered the large blank spaces on the map, showing how unexplored the Savage Land remained. “I don’t suppose you’d want to join us?” he asked.

“Join you?” T’Challa frowned thoughtfully. “The idea is very tempting, indeed. But to do so would draw attention to the expedition in ways that would risk discovering the smugglers.”

“A disguise, maybe a hat and glasses --” Tony suggested.

T’Challa chuckled. “I cannot tell you how much I would like to come along. I too am a scientist and my sister would love to see more of the world. But we have duties.” He pursed his lips. “I would like though to send one of my trusted people along, a person who would not draw any attention. Nakia, who has already done much to uncover the smugglers.”

“We would be glad to have her along, your majesty,” Rogers agreed.

“Now, for the food. Come in, come in.” T’Challa waved in the long line of servers. “I am eager to show you the best we can offer.”

After lunch was served and T’Challa mentioned that he had to get ready for his return home, Rogers asked, “Have your people heard anything about exotic animal smuggling?”

“That it is shockingly common. Which animal?”

“Dinosaurs?”

Tony was surprised that Rogers had brought the subject up, given his whole dino-owning thing. He found it deeply unsettling that he couldn’t get a good read on the captain or anticipate what he knew or didn’t know.

T’Challa shrugged. “Oh, I do not know. Perhaps Nakia has heard of such things. It seems to me that keeping a dinosaur, no matter how small, is a dangerous and reckless idea.”

“Thank you,” Rogers replied, declining to comment further on pet dinosaurs.

Dora Milaje led them in circles so they would lose sight of the restaurant. On their way back to the expedition hotel, Tony and Rogers walked along one of the harbor’s seawalls. Rogers stopped and leaned on the fence, holding his hat in his fingers. Tony hated himself for noticing how the afternoon sun shone on Rogers’ golden hair. Rogers was unfairly gorgeous right there and then, almost distracting Tony away from the problem on hand.

“What was the deal about asking about the dinosaurs?” Tony asked. “You know, since you own one.”

“I don’t own Redwing,” Rogers replied.

“Sure looks like a pet to me.”

Rogers gave Tony a studied look as he weighed what he was going to say. “We’re returning Redwing back to the Savage Land. That’s where Miss Maximoff thinks she came from.”

“Oh.” Tony was annoyed with himself. He should have guessed that Rogers was up to something like that.

“Do you know much about the dinosaur trade?”

“Only found out it was a thing before I left on this expedition,” Tony admitted. He was unsettled by Rogers’ easy admission.

“Me too,” Rogers replied with a smile.

“Wait -- are you using this expedition to uncover dinosaur smuggling?”

Rogers shifted his hat back and forth in his hands. “That’s not in the expedition brief. We are doing a scientific investigation of the Savage Land on behalf of the New Explorers’ Club and to secure specimens for the museum.”

“Riiiiiight. Because I’m getting a very weird gut feeling that this expedition isn’t about gathering specimens and running a few experiments or discovering more Savage Land territory.”

“Whatever makes you think that?” Rogers asked with a grin.

Tony hated that he blinked right back at Rogers, any possible snappy comeback dying on his tongue.

~~~~~

Rogers announced that the expedition would set sail to the Savage Land within the week. The non-scientific members would oversee the loading of the generous supplies donated by the king of Wakanda onto the ship hired by the Club as well as the other preparations for the trip.

Tony watched Rogers come alive on the deck of the ship, as he worked with Wilson and the others. Redwing weaved back and forth through people’s legs as they walked around the deck, quick to beg for a snack or two and pets. Rogers definitely had bags of dino snacks hidden in a pocket or two.

So much for Redwing not being a pet.

“New person here,” Romanoff said to Rogers.

Nakia had arrived, dressed in subdued clothing and a large hat, with Barton following behind bringing her trunk. Romanoff smiled as if she was meeting her long-lost sister.

“You must be Nakia,” she said.

“Natasha Romanoff? We have a lot to discuss --”

“You do -- like which stateroom you would prefer --.”

“Indeed. What are my choices?” Nakia replied, immediately latching on to Natasha. “Please show me.”

Tony exchanged a look with Rogers, who had the same look on his face. Rogers handed a dino treat to Tony, who unthinkingly fed it to Redwing.

~~~~~

They have airships now, Steve thought as the ship pitched back and forth on the stormy sea. We could have taken one of those down to the Savage Land.

Steve had spent the last thirty years and a bit trapped in a magical stasis, for a long enough time that his friends had moved on well into middle age with their children grown and nearer to Steve’s own age. Indeed, Tony Stark hadn’t even been a gleam in Howard’s eye when Steve fell into the void.

Redwing snored in her cozy box bed near the stove. She’d put on inches and weight during the two months since he found her. At least they were heading to a place where he’d be able to find food for her. Sam accused him already of spoiling her terribly, but that was because Steve had looked all over New Timely for dino toys and a durable scratching and nibbling post. It wasn’t like Steve hadn’t caught Sam sneaking her treats.

Redwing made everything seem a bit less lonely these days.

They were a couple of days out from the coast of Wakanda and a couple of weeks from the Savage Land.

He went over to his trunk, opened it, and tapped on the side to reveal a secret compartment with a sheaf of papers. Back at his desk, Steve unfolded the sheaf and smoothed out the papers.

Fury had sent him with both official instructions and unofficial instructions for the expedition. The public ones had already been published in the newspapers and the official journal of the expedition. The charge was to retrieve certain highly desirable specimens for the Club museum, to conduct scientific experiments, and to survey as much of the Savage Land as they could over the month visit.

The unofficial ones were to aid T’Challa’s quest to locate and repatriate missing vibranium ore and to uncover where Dr. Pym’s special discoveries and instruments had been taken. Like T’Challa, Pym felt certain that his equipment had been stolen and taken to the Savage Land.

The unofficial unofficial ones were to find out if dinosaur smuggling was happening, which was very likely based on Wanda’s information, and to stop all of it if possible.

Steve sighed. He wanted to talk to Tony about it. Fury had told him that he had talked to Tony about all the aims of the expedition. But Steve needed an ally, even if they were only temporary. And Tony was still holding him at arm’s length which meant he likely did not trust Steve enough to discuss any highly sensitive intelligence.

He needed people on his side for this. He could trust Natasha and Clint as long he worked on Fury’s side. Sam was ride or die. The Maximoffs, Hope van Dyne and Scott Lang were in this for their own reasons. Steve was convinced that the only reason Miss van Dyne was on this trip was to scout on her own for the stolen Pym equipment. Dr. Pym had been too cagey to tell Fury about what had been stolen. And Natasha and Nakia acted like long-lost sisters.

As for Tony’s people, Steve wasn’t all that sold on them because he didn’t know them very well even after the air hip travel. Since they left Wakanda, people had been confined to quarters because of the unsettled weather and the need to get their sea legs. As far as Steve could tell, they all were very dedicated science people and likely be trustworthy and not in his way as he investigated.

Especially considering all his doubts about the purposes of the New Explorers’ Club.

The Zeppelin War had its clarity. Hydra unleashed its invading forces on the countries to its west and east, conquering as it came. Marvel had been one of the last countries fighting desperately for its freedom, and Captain Rogers had been its bright and shining hero, his exploits loudly proclaimed in screaming newspaper headlines, cyclorama and lantern slide shows, stage shows, colorful art circulars and books. Steve had fought like hell against Hydra, with his special ops team, the Howling Commandos, at his side.

At first, General Phillips and his aide, Peggy Carter, were convinced that they were fighting against a pure scientific effort and the latest technology the world could show off. Steve had enlisted as soon as he could. He’d been found peeling potatoes by one of Phillips’s top scientists, Dr. Erskine, who talked Steve into trying an experimental formula. Steve ended up stronger and faster than he’d ever been.

Except that magic was involved. Magic was a dirty word among scientists, for good reason. But Erskine knew that Red Skull, Hydra’s leading general, was blending both magic and science in all his new technologies. Fight fire with fire, Steve guessed. It didn’t quite work out the way that Phillips had planned when Erskine was assassinated.

They were winning, with Steve leading the way. Until Skull got his hands on a fleet of zeppelins powered by an unknown power source and planned to rain bombs down on Marvel until the country surrendered. Steve lost his best friend Bucky Barnes during a mission to gather in the intel on the zeppelin fleet. His team managed to destroy most of the zeppelins in a daring raid. After he defeated Red Skull in a hand-to-hand fight on the last zeppelin that had been launched into the air, Steve destroyed the ship only to be ensnared in an exploding magic device and thrown into a magic void for over thirty years.

It was one of the New Explorers’ Club expeditions that had found him and the sorcerer Dr. Strange had been the key to springing Steve from the void.

All in all, Steve was probably better off in the void. The world had changed so much in the decades he was gone with unbelievable technology. His contemporaries had moved on, with new families and lives and all the concerns of older people. His old flame, Peggy, had married and retired to a different country. The Howling Commandos scattered to the four winds, old men now, not the young men that Steve had fought beside. Even the famous Howard Stark, whom Steve had met once or twice, had finally settled down, married, had a son, then died when one of his horseless carriages failed during a test drive.

Everyone had moved on. The Great Zeppelin War was in the past, the dashing Captain Rogers a legend that all the school children read about.

But Steve had lived. And was living. Sometimes Steve had the feeling that the world preferred him to be missing than alive. It was convenient and tidy and his life story had been wrapped up neatly with a big bow, monuments and solemn remembrances. Being alive kind of undermined the pleasant narrative.

So he was grateful to the New Explorers’ Club and glad to be asked to lead expeditions to far off places away from New Timely. He didn’t mind the odd requests from Fury or Hill about checking into a shady trade deal here or finding a person there. He’d also found out by accident that his new friend Natasha did the actual spying on the expeditions.

However, the instructions for this expedition were more extensive than in the past. He could see the favor to T’Challa but not for Pym. It made his head hurt to try and sort it all out.

Redwing stretched and yawned. She walked over to Steve and nudged his leg.

“You want to go for a walk?”

She squawked in return.

“Walk it is.”

~~~~~

Tony had a lot of talents, both specific and broad. And one of those talents was noticing solid scientific ability.

The science team was holding one of their science bonding activities that night after dinner. He had commandeered space in one of the ship holds for their nightly presentations and discussions. Tonight’s presenter, Dr. Foster, was giving an impromptu talk on astronomy and her own research. Thor, of course, was in attendance.

Bruce had found Thor somewhere and become fast friends over the past two years, after the disastrous experiment that had ended Bruce’s first academic career. He wandered the academic wilderness until an appointment by a desperate dean had rescued him.

“Are you sure this isn’t going to cause a problem at Empire State?” Tony asked his friend sitting next to him. Scott Lang had found a collection of random chairs all over the ship for the science team’s use.

Bruce said, “No, by the time I was hired, the semester had started and the department didn’t have lab space. So putting off the job until next fall won’t hurt anyone. Plus I expect to get a few papers out of this trip.” He had a notebook full of equations, drawing and snippets of writing set out on his knee.

Tony was also attempting to get along with Miss Van Dyne. She was charming, smart and clever and completely refused to answer any of Tony’s direct questions.

“I am supporting the mission,” she said as she took the list of required specimens from Tony. “Mr. Lang is a highly qualified engineer and knows how to construct the appropriate cases and cages.”

One did not have to be an engineer to do any of that, Tony thought darkly as he picked apart the earlier interaction. Dr. Foster continued on about her latest discovery.

“My plans are to set up my telescopes here, after we set up camp --” Dr. Foster explained to the gathered science team.

Tony had had other plans once in life. He’d been touted as a rising star in all science fields, hailed as his generation’s best technologist. He had buried himself in studies and school and lab work. Until his parents’ sudden and very public death sent him back home to run the family’s extensive company. He hadn’t wanted to be the head of a multi-million dollar company at the age of twenty when he was having far too much fun doing his own thing.

He turned to Obadiah Stane, his father’s old friend, for help. The partnership worked great -- Stane ran Stark Industries while Tony created and invented and had fun. Stane convinced him that going on an expedition to the deserts east of Wakanda would be good publicity for both the company and for the Explorers’ Club.

So he went. A good boy carrying out his father’s legacy and all that. At the end of it all, a promise of reward -- fame, a place in the world he made for himself, the spotlight speech at the Annual Dinner, respect, trust.

Except that’s not what really was going on under the surface at all. The expedition was ambushed by a band of ruthless mercenaries and Tony dragged off to be held for ransom. He’d fought his way to freedom, finding in himself deep reserves he had never suspected. Rhodey had found him and returned him back to a family home Tony could no longer recognize or want to linger in.

Tony sold off his family’s home, fought like hell to remove and exile Stane, and went to New Timely to start all over again.

Until he met Captain Rogers, whose clear and instant disapproval of Tony had been broadcast the first time they met. Tony had grown up on the legends of Captain Rogers. Meeting the real thing was particularly challenging. Tony knew the real deal when he met him. So many people tried to bluff Tony or hide their true selves. But there was Captain Rogers, as real as it gets, solid confidence, unblemished courage, a true hero for the ages.

He had wanted to punch the man in the teeth at times because he was so bloody noble and unmoveable and uncaring of what other people thought of him. Tony fought tooth and nail for the respectability he had now that Rogers clearly took for granted.

Tony sighed and got up for a walk outside. Given the odds and his luck, it was probably still rainy. It was a terrible idea to go out on deck but he was now all riled up.

It didn’t help that he had a feeling that there was a lot more going on with the expedition than Fury or Rogers had told him. Although Rogers did mention that he was planning on setting that pet dinosaur of his free.

Really unexpected that Rogers was acting like his dinosaur had a say in what happened to it.

He grabbed an oil-cloth poncho before stepping out on the deck to clear his head and stuff down his suspicions. He turned the corner on the deck and there was Rogers with his dinosaur on a leash.

He blinked twice at the odd sight. The dinosaur slipped and twisted the leash around Rogers’ legs, sending the captain off balance and on his ass. Tony rushed over against his better judgment to help Rogers to his feet.

“Here, take the leash,” Rogers said.

“Leash?”

“Yeah, Redwing might get loose and hurt herself otherwise.”

Tony held the leash while Redwing, who had decided that the rain was terrible, shivered against the safety of Tony’s legs. Rogers got up gracefully despite the slippery wood deck but he was dripping wet. Tony spoke before he thought it over. “Come on, let’s get you dried off.”

He steered the captain and his dino to his own spacious cabin. “Tea or coffee?” Tony asked as he opened the door.

“Tea,” Rogers replied.

Tony turned to see Rogers struck with wonder as he looked around Tony’s unpacked cabin and all his little projects he felt safe working on on the ship. Rogers looked closely at the telescope that Tony had pulled apart to redesign and then at the sextant.

“You can take your boots off,” Tony suggested as he ushered Rogers to the armchair next to the radiator.

Rogers took off his soaked boots, handed them to Tony in exchange for a pair of spare slippers. Tony put towels on the floor for Redwing to curl up in. “She’ll be okay?” Tony asked.

“Better than us.” Rogers looked fondly down at the dinosaur. “Do you have something for her to gnaw on? She’ll shred your shoes or pillow if you’re not watching.”

“Yeah, let me think.” He rummaged through the spare parts chest in the corner of the cabin and handed the dino a chunk of wood.

“Thanks for the help, Stark.”

“Anytime. It’s too early to lose the head of the expedition going over the side of the ship.”

Tony gave Rogers a cup with his steeping tea and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Do you think that we’ll have to deal with this weather all the way to the Savage Land? I was expecting more tropical weather.”

“Sam and Thor have studied the weather -- they seem to think that the storms will be passing soon.”

“Thor?”

“Studied meteorology somewhere -- I didn’t catch the name of the college.”

“Huh, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Nor me,” Rogers replied. He sipped his tea.

Somehow Steve Rogers seemed less legendary and a normal mortal when he was just a guy who slipped on his ass in the rain. In the dim light of the cabin, his eyes sparkled as he talked in a way that got under Tony’s skin.

They didn’t talk for a few minutes and then Rogers suddenly stood up. “We should get going. Come on, Redwing.”

The dinosaur gave Rogers a dirty look as she was clearly settled in for the night with her towels, radiator and wood chunk. “She can stay if she wants,” Tony said.

“You don’t need a frightened dinosaur in the middle of the night,” Rogers replied.

Finally Redwing staggered to her feet. She chirped at Tony before following Rogers out the door.

Tony was not, repeat not, going to let his guard down because of that ridiculously cute dinosaur or because Steve Rogers was perhaps far more attractive than a living legend should be.

~~~~~

The next day Wilson summoned Rogers and Tony down to one of the cargo holds, the one where the expedition’s scientific equipment was stored. “Natasha and I were doing rounds and we found this --”

“You have people doing security checks?” Tony asked Rogers.

“Standard protocol,” Rogers replied. He'd squatted down to look more closely at the pried-open crate. “Any of your people need something?”

Tony was checking his shipping manifest. “Not that I know of -- everyone was directed to select the equipment they had immediate needs for. Like Dr. Foster’s traveling telescope.” He flipped through a few pages. He leaned over to see the label on the crate. “It’s Dr. Banner’s -- his geology equipment.”

Wilson exchanged a worried look with Rogers. “My gut tells me that the person who broke into this crate picked the crate at random.”

“No one but me has this manifest,” Tony said. “I keep it in my cabin and my cabin is locked.”

“With an impressive locking system,” Rogers said to Wilson. “You should see it.”

Wilson arched an eyebrow in response. “Right. Anything taken?”

“I wouldn’t know -- it’s Dr. Banner’s.”

“Sam, could you check with Dr. Banner?”

“Will do, Steve. In the meantime, want me to talk to Clint about patrolling this area?”

“Yes. Do that.”

“Who would want to break into the crates?” Tony asked. “It’s not like anyone can smuggle something off this ship.”

Rogers frowned and stood up. “We should look through the hold in case there is anything other than broken crates.”

~~~~~

Later that day, Tony received a short note from Rogers asking to meet him in the ship captain’s ready room.

“This is an odd place to meet,” he said to Rogers. The room was small, set up for quick meetings and whatnot, and not designed for anyone’s comfort.

Rogers pulled the porthole window shut. “It’s the most secure place I could locate that wouldn’t generate gossip.”

“Okay -- I didn’t realize we had gone from basic suspicion to outright paranoia already in one afternoon.”

“It’s not that,” Rogers said. “It’s not easy to keep a lid on things on a ship, Sam’s working to tamp down on any rumors about broken crates and theft. If we’re seen talking, it might attract eavesdroppers.”

“Good point.” Tony sat down on the wooden chair opposite Rogers. “Bruce said he didn’t see anything taken.”

Rogers nodded. “We didn’t locate any additional broken crates.”

“Then what’s the concern?”

“Either it was an ill-advised attempt at theft from someone on board or it’s an attempt to sabotage the expedition.”

Tony tipped his head to the side as he considered the options. “That seems a bit of a stretch, Rogers. Theft is the easiest explanation. Maybe the thief thought that they were in the food hold and wanted to grab extra snacks.” He drummed his fingers on his thigh. “That crate --”

“Sam was the one who found it. He caught it out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t think anything was amiss at first but a corner of the lid wasn’t flush with the box.”

“So, the person responsible didn’t want us to see the crate. Which would rule out sabotage, since the point of sabotage is to undermine.”

Rogers shook his head tightly. “Sabotage can be spreading rumors to undermine the expedition. We already don’t know each other well enough. The wrong word in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there’s trouble in the team.”

Tony took a deep breath. “Then we tell people that Bruce forgot something and opened the crate to retrieve it. People will believe that story until we find out more information.”

Rogers appeared doubtful. “I’m not comfortable with anything less than the truth here.”

“Tell the truth and everyone will be at each other’s neck in two weeks, guaranteed. Especially if we have more issues like those crates.”

Rogers rubbed a hand over his face as he pondered. “I can ask Sam to put that story out.”

“And I’ll get Bruce to back it up. Who would want to sabotage the expedition?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know. Hopefully this was just a mistake and we have no more problems.”

~~~~~

Wilson reported that two additional crates were found broken into. “Crates from the camp supplies hold,” he clarified to Rogers and Tony. They were meeting again in the ready room.

“Who found them?” Rogers asked.

“Ship’s crew.” Wilson glanced at Rogers and then to Tony. “It has to be out now, Thor drinks with those guys.”

“And Clint too,” Rogers added.

Tony groaned. “The news is going to go through the expedition like wildfire.”

“Maybe not,” Wilson said hopefully. “There could be a reasonable explanation here for the open crates.”

Rogers pursed his lips as he considered options. Tony found him rather attractive when he was thoughtful like this. “Sam, can you and Natasha keep an ear out for rumors?”

“Sure. But I think you’d want to talk to Natasha -- she’s been on alert for something the past couple of days. Hasn’t said anything, but you know what she’s like when she's working on something.”

“The last thing we need is conflict between the expedition members and the ship’s crew,” Rogers said. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened on the Amazon expedition.”

Wilson laughed at that. “Wasn’t that bad, Cap.”

“Remember there’s that formal dinner tonight,” Tony pointed out. “That can’t help matters.”

“Who suggested the dinner?” Wilson asked.

“Van Dyne,” Rogers replied. “Wait -- which crates were broken into?”

“Camp supplies.” Wilson took out his notes. “Specifically the crates from Wakanda.”

Rogers asked, “Are the crates marked as Wakandan?”

Wilson lifted his eyes to the side as he thought. “I only remember customs stamps.”

“Have Nakia look at the crates and bring Natasha to my cabin this afternoon, when you’re both free.”

Wilson got up. “Not spending a lot of time getting ready for the dinner? Natasha will be disappointed.”

Rogers sighed. “I’ll see you later.”

As soon as Wilson left, Tony turned to Rogers. “What are you thinking?”

“The same as you?”

“Smugglers.”

Rogers nodded. “We need to keep this quiet. In case whoever is involved trips up.”

~~~~~

As Tony buttoned his paisley waistcoat, he wondered why Hope Van Dyne would want to have a formal dinner. It didn’t quite seem to fit her personality based on their interactions. And a formal dinner at that, with full suits and dinner dresses and china plates and all members of the expedition expected to attend. Like there was any other option for entertainment on the ship.

Tony’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He was gobsmacked by the sight of Rogers in his dark tailored suit and brilliant blue tie matching his eyes. He hadn’t really looked at the captain before, not enough to really take in how classically handsome the man was. And just Tony’s type.

“Come in,” Tony said to Rogers’ silent question.

“Nakia confirmed that the crates were specifically from Wakanda -- the customs stamps covered most of them. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could still see them.”

“Besides Nakia -- who knows Wakandan?”

Rogers huffed. He went through the expedition members and ticked off his fingers. “Can’t be that many besides me.”

“You?”

“Long story and I’m rusty. Not any of my people -- Dr. Banner or Dr. Foster maybe?”

“Maybe. What about Lang?”

“I don’t know much about him. All we’ve talked about is the Great Zeppelin War,” Rogers said, with a slightly pained look on his face. “Thor?”

“Wouldn’t put it past him. He knows all sorts of obscure stuff.”

Rogers smiled at him. “Still stung by the trivia contest?”

Tony preferred not to remember at all. Thor had edged out Tony for the win on a question about storm clouds and lightning. “I over-thought it, Rogers.”

“You keep saying that -- it isn’t going to change the past.”

“Can’t stop me. I’ve lodged a complaint with the Cargo Ship Trivia Contest Judging Association already. I have suspicions about that question.”

Tony pulled on his jacket, only to notice Rogers surreptitiously checking him out. That was a nice bit of flattery there.

The ship’s bell rang. Van Dyne had made arrangements for a very lovely dinner, with all the appropriate settings and had even made place cards. For once, Tony had not been seated next to Rogers, but between Romanoff and Wilson. Rogers was sitting with Bruce and Thor. Van Dyne had also asked people to sing after dinner as the after-dinner entertainment.

Overall, dinner was not bad and the whole thing was rather diverting. Until Barton and Lang got into an argument.

“I was asking about the crates -- what did you take out of them?” Barton asked Lang.

The rest of the expedition quieted immediately, sensing a fight brewing. Tony looked over at Rogers who had sat up wary and ready to jump.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t touched the supplies at all,” Lang scoffed.

“There’s a lot of pricey equipment lying around, the right sort of temptation for a thief like you.”

Lang said nothing but turned to his food.

“I mean, does anyone else know that you’ve been in jail?” Barton needled. “You stole money from the company you worked for.”

Rogers moved like the wind to stand next to Lang. “Sounds like you two have had a big day.”

“It’s been long, Captain,” Lang agreed.

“Miss Van Dyne -- it is a good time to start your concert since we could all use the diversion tonight from our travels,” Rogers continued.

“Of course, Captain, let’s start -- Mr. Odinson? You offered to start?”

“Indeed, I did!”

The concert took everyone’s mind off the dinner argument with a lot of laughter and group singing. As Tony returned to his cabin, he saw Rogers deep in conversation with both Lang and Barton. Barton shook Lang’s hand.

The next day, Rogers summoned Van Dyne and Lang to his cabin. Tony had been invited along since he was Rogers’ de facto second in command these days. He had thought about it after dinner and he was convinced that Lang had nothing to do with the thefts. But Van Dyne wasn’t up to anything good.

“What’s this about, Captain?” Van Dyne asked.

“I wanted to clear the air about last night. Is there anything I should know you haven’t told me?”

Lang and Van Dyne both said, “No.” Lang then added, “Now that you know about my past.”

“I was informed that you had been caught up in a government investigation concerning fraud at your company but that you had brought attention to that fraud through theft.”

“That’s about it.”

“We don’t need to talk about it again.”

Van Dyne said, “I just want you to know, Captain, that Scott and I are thrilled to be one this expedition. I’ve been inspired by my father’s work and would love to follow in his footsteps.”

“Then I hope this expedition is everything you want.”

“Indeed. May we go now?”

After they were gone, Tony asked, “What did you think of that?”

“He didn’t break into those crates. But I don’t know what’s up with her.”

Tony snickered. “Like you read my mind.”

“That’s over for now.”

“Who told you about Lang?”

Rogers stood up. “Fury.”

“Why would Fury know?”

“Fury knows everything,” Rogers replied with a shrug.

Tony did not like that uneasy sudden feeling that something was not on the up-and-up with the expedition or that Steve Rogers was holding back information from him. Last time he’d had those feelings, he’d been left for dead in the wilderness.


	3. Chapter 3

The ship captain summoned Steve up to the wheelhouse. “Look,” he said pointing to a smudge on the horizon.

“How long to shore?”

“I’d say about a day. Last time I was here, getting into the harbor was tricky. There’s a reason no one has settled this land.”

Steve made a general announcement to the expedition to pack up their cabins and get ready for landing. Secretly he hoped that their arrival would be problem-free.

The Savage Land, a strange place truly left behind by time, loomed large in people’s imaginations. Difficult to reach, filled with dinosaurs, monstrous mammals, and covered with immense thick and overgrown rain forests. Not the land around the south pole, but close to it and defying all known laws of climate and weather.

The New Explorers’ Club sent out regular expeditions and Steve knew the expeditions well. Actually he’d been familiar with the first Explorers’ Club.

He remembered the old building with crowded exhibits behind cloudy glass and the peeling exhibit labels. It was a Sunday afternoon treat from his mother. In their Sunday best (still worn and patched), they would walk to the old museum, buying a cookie or two. He remembered walking up the steps to the Gothic building with its spiked towers and multi-paned glass windows and the Cathedral hush in the galleries. Steve wanted to be like those dashing explorers featured in pictures in outside hallways.

He was in the cold void when the revolution came to the New Explorers’ Club. Fury gave Steve one version, he learned the other side on his own. Money, purpose and gatekeeping doomed the old club. Janet Van Dyne, her husband Hank Pym and their friend Bill Foster had led the first salvos over who could belong to the club, just a few months after Steve fell from the zeppelin. Ironically the final break came after a fight over appropriate exhibits in honor of the Great Zeppelin War hero. Though Steve had heard one story where the fight leading to the old club breaking into two was really over whether or not lantern slide presentations were allowed for Club sponsored lectures. Dr. Foster smiled and told Steve that academic fights were weird, petty and vicious.

Overall it was considered far better, more chic and stylish and a real career move to belong to the New Explorers’ Club. Steve had been back once to the old club, felt incredibly sad to see the disrepair and neglect in a building that had once meant so much to him. But that was his life in a nutshell.

“You’ll need to be careful when we’re on land,” Wanda warned Steve.

“Careful?”

“About Redwing -- it’s her natural land -- so there are natural predators.”

“Who would eat Redwing?” Steve scritched behind her frill in case she got scared.

“Redwing is a somewhat unusual size for Savage Land dinosaurs. She’s large in New Timely, but tiny here.”

“Hmmm.” He couldn’t imagine Redwing facing a velociraptor when her current sworn enemy was the carpet beater back home. “We’ll need to be careful with her pen.”

The ship steamed close to the harbor. Sam pointed out to Steve that the harbor entrance had changed compared to the last time an expedition had come. The ship captain slowed down to navigate through the sandbars and then weighed anchor where he still felt confident that the ship would not scrape the bottom.

Steve picked his landing team -- Thor, a solid choice because of his strength and lack of fear, Sam, Clint, Natasha and Pietro.

“Why not me?” Tony asked Steve as he busied about the row boat that would take them in.

“Because you’re more valuable. If Pietro got eaten by a pterodactyl, that would not affect the team.”

Steve noticed that Tony didn’t argue with that logic.

The landing party immediately located and secured the campground used by the last expedition. They would need to do a lot more clearing of vegetation and debris to make room. People were antsy to get off the ship.

It didn’t take long for Tony to rig up a raft system based on rope and pulleys to move supplies to land from the ship. “Saves a lot of rowing effort,” Tony explained. He’d been complaining about sore arms from all the work.

Overall, the expedition worked well as a team. They were steadily emptying the hold of their supplies and equipment. The ship would be returning to the Port City and would be back within a month with more supplies or to pick up the expedition if they were ready to return.

Steve looked over the team swarming like bees to set up camp and thought that they were all that they had for one solid month. Sam and Thor were already done with marking out the place to erect a fence. It had been Sam’s idea to keep out the unknown dangers that could attack in the night or day. They hadn’t been there long enough to have learned anything about the local dinosaurs and large species of mammal population.

A couple of days later, Steve was reviewing all the map information on the Savage Land he had in his personal tent. Dr. Banner had just been in to visit him, overly excited about the possibilities of the Savage Land. “There have to be grasslands somewhere, considering the mammoths.” He’d pitched the idea of cutting their way through the rain forest towards his conjectured destination. Steve was far more skeptical of the plan, though he was encouraging.

Redwing slept at his feet. She’d shown only the barest interest in the forests or the other dinosaurs moving in the foliage beyond the edge of camp. He had to rescue many a tent canvas from her sharp beak as she gleefully threaded her way through crates and packing materials.

Steve appreciated Sam’s good taste in tent selection. Steve’s tent was different as he had to have an office with his, so he had a two-chambered tent -- one for his bedroom and personal effects, the other for the expedition office. The tent, like all the others, had been fitted with a long canvas sheet and poles to create a porch outside the tent door.

He could see down the neatly laid out row of tents, each with some sort of porch, all the way down to Tony’s tent. Tony was rolling up his shirt sleeves and putting on a leather apron. It turned out that Tony had a wide range of blacksmith skills, which were sorely needed on the expedition. Apparently today, Tony was going to work making repairs on expedition equipment. Thor was especially hard on axes.

Steve shouldn’t stare. He’d long professionally admired Tony aesthetically, given his love of drawing and art. But being thrown in with Tony as much as he had been, Steve felt something deep and stirring whenever Tony spoke or laughed or sang in the many entertainments the expedition had thrown to amuse themselves. Steve did not have a good singing voice nor could he play an instrument, so he was the audience.

By all possible standards, Tony was a very gorgeous man. Steve had been surprised at first to see Lord Tony Stark a regular feature of the social papers. But seeing the man in action, Steve was amazed that the man did not have a dedicated newspaper tracking all the amazing, talented things Tony did daily.

Steve had hope that they could work through the distance between him and Tony. He had been dead serious when he told Fury that he wanted Tony as his science officer. Tony was the ideal choice. Even if Steve still felt Tony’s lingering coldness towards him.

Meanwhile, he could enjoy sneaking looks at Tony’s flexing arms as Steve finalized the camp rules. Redwing turned around, nearly crushing Steve’s foot. Camp Rule One had to be changed to “Don’t feed Redwing any more treats.” People were shamelessly feeding her treats at all hours which only reinforced her tendency toward begging.

Barton built a pen for Redwing near Steve’s tent with a secure protective cover to fend off predators. Redwing showed a distinct preference for her bed in Steve’s tent, to the point of digging up a fence post when she was placed in the pen for the first time. With a glint in his eye, Barton set to work again on a reinforced pen.

“When can we free Redwing?” Wanda asked as Steve put Redwing into the pen so Clint could test the resiliency of the protective cover.

Steve looked doubtfully down at Redwing, who hung around the pen gate, giving Steve the stink-eye and butting the gate every now then to let her people know it was okay to let her out now.

“Redwing is still a baby with a brussel sprout addiction,” Sam said. “I doubt she can be on her own. She’s only ever been a city dinosaur.”

Wanda blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’ll have to train her then. Show her how to survive out here. Instead of begging for treats.”

Steve reminded himself that was the plan and had always been the plan from the beginning. “You can work with her then, Wanda.”

~~~~~

Tony was not particularly happy with his camp bed mattress. Not that he should complain -- he’d tried Bruce’s and he had no idea how Bruce was even functioning after sleeping on that thin cardboard. Bruce insisted that it was his choice. But Tony had tried out mattresses before he ordered his and he had to do something about the frame that was poking through.

They were having lunch in Tony’s tent and Bruce was lingering so that he didn’t have to go out in the near-daily rain shower, one drawback to the Savage Land weather that Tony much appreciated otherwise.

Not that he was going to dwell on the fact that he discovered the wonders of Steve Rogers in his shirtsleeves or less clothing. A couple of days ago, he had, by sheer accident mind you, walked by Steve taking a bath in a nearby pond. Steve had noticed him and they talked as Steve floated in the pond, clearly in the all together.

Tony shouldn’t have any thoughts about Steve like that. Admittedly, he had thawed some towards Steve to the point of being willing to call him Steve now. But that first meeting with the Captain long ago had left a bad taste in Tony’s mouth. Tony could remember clearly what that meeting had been like. Steve had been stand-offish and not appreciated the coffee maker Tony had just designed.

For what it was worth, he’d made a more commercially viable version of that coffee machine which sold like hot cakes and one of the reasons why he could fund some of the expedition. He had no idea if Steve, who had to be daunted by all the new technology, was even still using the little machine.

“So I’ve been looking at the list of specimens, particularly the plants,” Bruce started.

“Isn’t that Hope’s job?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t check either -- I’m out in the field looking for particular rocks and minerals as part of my radiation studies. I might find a plant or two -- saves her some effort.”

“Isn’t she also collecting particular insects?”

“She knows her insects, more so than any of the rest of us. So back to Fury’s list -- the Club’s museum has to have examples already -- they’re common tropical plants.”

“Maybe Fury’s looking for things for the gift shop.”

“They sent us a hell of a distance to get gift shop stock,” Bruce pointed out.

Tony yawned and stretched. “It’s not like we have to stick with the list like we’re on a shopping trip or else. If we find new plants or a particularly interesting specimen, we nab that.”

Bruce nodded towards Wanda, incidentally dressed for foraging as she walked by. “I’m sticking to plants and rocks. I think it’d be ridiculous to bring back a live dinosaur.”

“They are all the rage back in New Timely -- dinosaur pets. You could fuel a couple of years of research if we brought back a boatload of the things.”

“Maybe, if the dinosaurs were like Captain Rogers’ Redwing,” Bruce said. “But I’m not keen on animal smuggling. I can’t see how dinosaurs make good pets.”

“Anything else stick out?”

Tony turned to look at Bruce, who had screwed up his face as he pulled together his thoughts. “I mean, I don’t think that this is much different from other expeditions I’ve been on. But it feels different.”

Something resonated deep within Tony. He’d only ever been on the one expedition. That one had felt different too. “In what way?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know exactly. I can’t put my thumb on it. I thought at first that the collecting of specimens felt like a shopping list. Jane did mention that the new museum was in desperate need of new specimens and displays.”

Tony did like the new buildings back in New Timely -- one for studying and lab space for scientists in need of library resources and places to work, another for club business and the third for the club museum. He’d particularly liked the museum, given the number of successful fundraising campaigns he had run for it. But he hadn’t thought about the exhibits. Though some snippets of conversations with the museum director came back to mind. “The museum director wants to have some rotating exhibits besides the regular installations. They only got a portion of the old museum’s collections in the family divorce if I remember correctly.”

“Good point. I don’t know -- Miss Romanoff is a very capable person, though I’m not sure that’s her talents stop at just assisting with expedition logistics.”

Tony had his own suspicions about the expedition ever since the discovery of the first crate had been broken into. “We’ll need to keep observing.”

“True. I don’t know Directory Fury as well as you do.”

“No one knows Directory Fury that well. Not even Captain Rogers.”

~~~~~

Tony’s unease about the expedition grew beyond his uncomfortable mattress. He bristled at Steve’s formality in all areas. Steve seemed to be caught up in the past. He still called people Mister and Miss and Doctor like they were all attending a formal dinner party in their finest clothes in New Timely.

Then Rogers had the nerve to post camp rules in the camp. He’d even been a complete and utter tool by announcing them at a camp meeting. Like rules mattered.

Bruce had been more supportive of the rules, given his quick temper and tendency to fly off the handle. He had told Tony that rules would cut down on misunderstandings and that everyone’s roles and duties in the camp were clearly outlined so no one skipped out on kitchen duties. He also pointed out that Steve had taken on the camp patrols for his side of the expedition, freeing up the scientists to do their own work.

Tony still couldn’t get past the fact that the king of the fuddy-duddies had issued actual rules, posted in prominent spaces in the camp, such as the dining and kitchen tent as well as outside Rogers’ office. Although, Tony had to admit that the rules had helped out with camp space when he had to settle disagreements between Jane and Bruce over tent lab space. Though he’d only admit that under threat of pain of death.

The other thing he’d admit only under threat was that he found Steve to be an excellent artist by accident.

When Tony needed a specific ink for his mechanical drawings, both Bruce and Hope referred him to Steve, who indeed had the requisite ink. Steve also had some excellent drafting paper.

And then Tony spent some time with Wilson. Tony had been drafted into the survey work of the Savage Land with Barton and Lang, who needed something to do. Wilson turned out to have excellent and unparalleled observational talents. Much like Barton himself. Except that Wilson was far more fun and interesting to spend time with as Tony suspected that Wilson had a mischievous streak much like himself.

Not that anyone had started a prank war yet in camp. Yet another reason to miss Rhodey like hell.

Anyway, Tony was helping Wilson survey the area south to the camp that hadn’t been adequately charted yet. “You can call me Sam,” Mr Wilson, err - Sam said as they set off to work.

“Tony,” Tony replied.

“Not Lord Stark?”

“That was my father -- plus the title is more honorific. Any sensible person would not use it.”

Sam had worked out a list and plan for the survey so that they could work efficiently in gathering the information. He said it was to avoid lingering too long in an area where carnivorous dinosaurs were located.

“So is this what you do back in New Timely?” Tony asked while he held stakes for Sam’s measurements.

“Not all the time -- I do a lot of odd jobs for the New Explorers’ Club,” Sam explained. Turned out that Sam lived with Rogers too.

“How did that happen?”

Sam gave Tony a smile. “I get asked that all the time. I had been discharged from the Air Ship Force for a few months, was back in Timely, and went for a run. I was lapped by Steve. We had a laugh and then he offered me some work with the Club. After the first expedition together, we went in on living arrangements together. Not that sharing a house is easier than having two separate tents.”

“I gather you must be the artist on Captain Rogers’ team. Or Miss Romanoff. It’s not Barton.”

“Heh heh. Barton’s a genius with bows, not pencils. No, that’s all Steve -- he does all the illustrations and map drawing. He had formal training before the Zeppelin War.”

“No -- wait -- like for the annual dinner, he did all the drawings used in his lecture?”

“Yep. That’s what he did at night when we were on the arctic expedition. He had a lot of notebooks filled with sketches. I’ve been after him to publish a volume or two. People would pay good money for that.”

Tony thought of the recent illustrations in the Club magazine. “Is he doing illustrations for the club magazine?”

“Hmm, I think it was just one issue he was the fili-in artist for. He doesn’t talk about his pre-war life, but I gather that he wanted to be a professional artist. I tell him all the time that he has a back-up plan for when the expeditions stop. Can’t be doing this forever, you know.”

It turned out that Tony was the last one to know about Captain Rogers the artist. Bruce, Hope, Scott and Jane all knew about Steve’s talents. Hope laughed at Tony when he told her. “Who do you think I ask about cleaning up my field drawings?”

Scott admitted to getting tips from Rogers for his photographs. For some reason, Scott had been designated the camp photographer. Then again, Scott was also the designated odd job person as he had no particular reason to be on the expedition except that Hope wanted him there. He wasn’t half bad with the photographs.

“I bought a book,” he explained. “And Captain Rogers gave me some tips.”

Tony had built him a cart to carry his equipment over the uneven terrain. It had been an interesting problem for Tony -- how to build a cart to handle Scott’s glass plate negatives. Tony could see the commercial possibilities. “Oh?”

“Yeah, he’s the greatest.” Also Scott seemed to be Rogers’ number one fan boy in camp, which didn’t get on Tony’s nerves as much as he might have thought. “He’s an artist so he explained composition and framing to me.”

“Do you need to get all arty with the plant and animal photos?”

“Oh yeah! I had to do something -- the first photos I took were terrible even after I read the book and we only have so many supplies.”

Tony admittedly was intrigued by what people told him about Steve. He snuck glances around Rogers’ office. WItwas a disappointment to find that he had no work laying out. Rogers’ office tent was so devoid of personality, that it was impossible to tell anything personal about Rogers.

Scott’s tent was the direct opposite. Apparently he was an amateur magician and his text was covered with magic trick paraphernalia. At least he was entertaining after dinner with his sleight of hand tricks. Besides, Scott was helpful with some of the stuff Tony worked on since he also had been an engineer once.

Then there was the day that Steve, Thor, Sam, and Scott were building a wall to protect the camp from wandering animals. A low wall, just enough to dissuade them away from the camp. Tony sat under an umbrella enjoying the shade with his new ward, Redwing. Redwing never strayed far from Steve if she could help it. Tony threw a ball to her and she dragged it back.

It was getting hot and Steve unexpectedly stripped down to his undershirt. The thin fabric clung to every single muscle on Steve’s strong back. Tony nearly crushed Redwing’s ball in his hands until a squawking Redwing pecked his hand to drop it.

Steve was gorgeous under all those clothes and Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away. Steve had turned out to be a capable, strong, and intelligent man with unexpected fine qualities.

When Steve had finished with the wall and was drinking water over by Tony, Tony asked, “After dinner, why don’t you come over to my tent?”

“Oh?”

“We can talk about dinosaurs, Wanda’s crusade …”

“I would like that, Mr. Stark, um, Tony.”

~~~~~

A couple of days later, Tony’s aching back got him out of bed before dawn, which added to his overall grouchiness. He bargained with himself that he would take a quick walk around the camp to work out the cramps, then sneak back to bed for another couple of hours of sleep.

The layout of the camp was simple -- the people tents were on one side, the common area with the huge open tent for dinners and entertainments in the center, and the tents for the supplies, crates and equipment on the other side. An hour before dawn there was no need for anyone to be on the equipment side of the camp.

The sharp crack of wood snapped Tony to attention. He walked around the supply tents, narrowing down the tent with the noise. The saboteur was at work again. Tony gritted his teeth. The noise was coming from the next tent just ahead and around the corner. He slowed down and crept closer to the tent. The tent flap had been untied and Tony could open it without being noticed.

“Hurry up, Barton will be by soon on his morning patrol,” Hope hissed at Wanda. “Next crate, open the next crate.”

“Good morning, ladies,” Tony announced. Both women jumped away from the crate, Wanda trying to hide her crowbar in her skirts. “Sooo, what are we doing this morning?”

“We are looking for the coffee -- we’ve run out,” Hope offered immediately.

“That would be all fine and dandy, if you had opened the coffee crate.” Tony walked over to the crate. “This is clearly the explosives crate.”

“I misread the crate.” Hope pushed the crate top back into place. “Wanda, where’s the crate with the coffee?”

Tony sighed. “Not this tent. The food tents are over there.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Hope stepped forward, aiming to get past Tony.

“We’re not going to that tent -- we’re going to Captain Rogers’,” Tony said firmly.

“We don’t have to do that. We just made a mistake,” Wanda said, turning visibly pale. “No need to bother the Captain.”

“Bother the Captain about what?” Barton said from the doorway. Hope groaned.

Fifteen minutes later, they were waiting in Steve’s office for Steve to get dressed and join them. Sam and Natasha filed in, followed by Barton. Steve emerged in shirtsleeves and plain blue waistcoat, with a day’s growth of beard, ready to go. “What’s going on?”

“Stark found Van Dyne and Maximoff breaking into the dynamite crate.”

Wanda looked embarrassed when Steve turned to her. “Wanda?”

“I was helping Hope,” she admitted. “We were looking for stolen items.”

“Wanda,” Hope snapped.

“You said you’d help me find the smuggler,” Wanda replied.

Sam asked, “Smuggler?”

“I’m here to find stolen Pym equipment.” Hope sat up straighter. “Has to be Stark. No other reason he’d be on this trip. He’s stealing our inventions for Justin Hammer.”

“Why in hell would I lower myself to help Hammer with anything?” Tony exploded.

“You worked with him years ago.”

“And I stopped because Hammer was stealing from other inventors. I haven’t worked with him for years.” Tony was so angry he nearly vibrated.

“Hope, you need to trust Tony and me on this. You should have come to us,” Steve said.

“You work for Fury -- we went to him about the theft.”

“What does she mean that you work for Fury, Rogers?” Tony demanded. “Like he’s your boss?”

Wanda interrupted, “I’ve heard about Justin Hammer.” She was shaking. “Back in New Timely -- Pietro and I were searching for who was bringing in the dinosaurs. That’s the name a couple of our sources mentioned.”

Tony threw up his hands. “That’s not surprising. Not at all.”

“Tony, hush. Wanda?”

“Captain, you promised that you would stop the dinosaur smuggling. We have a lead now. You have to do something.”

“Wait, wait. What is going on here? Animal smuggling? Tech theft?” Tony narrowed his eyes as he looked at Steve who was up to something hinky. He’d almost made a mistake in lowering his guard, letting his head get turned by a pretty blond.

“We -- Sam, Natasha, Clint and I -- haven’t forgotten about the dinosaur smuggling. We don’t have any leads right now.”

“I made inquiries back in Port City,” Natasha added. “Turned up some information. Nakia has some additional ideas.”

Wanda’s shoulders relaxed. “You haven’t let me down,” she said. “It takes time to find the real criminals. I can be patient.”

“Hope,” Steve said, turning to her. “Investigating on your own undermined this expedition and Sam and Clint wasted time looking for the saboteur.”

“Fury promised us that he would find out who stole our tools and equipment,” Hope replied.

“We’re working on it,” Natasha.

“Well, for me, I am so glad that you are all getting along in the Secret Investigations Club,” Tony said. He turned to Steve. “You owe me. You never once told me this was going on. When were you going to tell me a damn thing, after taking me for a fool?” Tony stormed out of the tent.

~~~~~

Hope spent the rest of her day telling the rest of the expedition members what she had been doing and that to make it up to them she and Lang would take on the cooking and cleaning duties for the next week or so.

She had cleared her plan with Steve once Natasha and Nakia filled her in on what they knew about the tech smuggling. It wasn’t much as far as Steve could tell. Hope didn’t have much to add to what had been discovered so far. But at least they were all on the same page for once.

Except for Tony.

Before dinner, Sam reported to Steve that Tony had been stewing in his tent all day, refusing to talk to anyone, even Dr. Banner. Tony didn’t even come out to join the others for dinner or for the evening entertainment.

Worried, but knowing that Tony had to work through his anger, Steve retired to his tent for the evening. He sat in the office part of his tent, sketching. Redwing was nosing around one of her toys. She refused to spend the night in her pen and Steve didn’t discourage it, after having caught a far-off glimpse of a velociraptor. Besides, he missed her snoring during the night.

Tony barged into the tent, sending Redwing scuttling for cover in Steve’s bedroom. “Captain Rogers, I demand --”

“I’m here, Tony,” Steve said. A slight sliver of fear hit him as he realized he might not have the privilege of calling Lord Stark ‘Tony’ any longer. “Please take a seat.”

Tony froze for a second, as if he had expected Steve to act differently. He looked at the chair like Steve had offered him a seat in a lava pit. “Captain Rogers, I am leaving the expedition now as no one here is able to tell one iota of truth. I will pack up my belongings and will be leaving as soon as possible by any means necessary, even if that includes using magic. Dr. Banner can handle all of the science on his own.”

“You didn’t know?” Steve asked. “I am confused.”

Having made his resignation speech and having not been met with a plea to not resign, Tony stood deflated. He gave Steve another suspicious look and then sat down. “That’s rich, you being confused.”

“I am sincere in my confusion. I was given to believe by Fury that you had been informed of all the aims of the expedition.”

“Short answer -- no.”

Steve nodded slowly. Tony seemed to move from anger to intense curiosity, even though the air was still tense. “If it helps, I was not happy that Fury grafted a spy mission onto the expedition.”

“Spy missions.”

“Spy missions. You knew about the stolen vibranium.”

“Right.”

“Now you know about the Pym technology --”

“Don’t forget about the animal smuggling. Why is Fury freelancing on all of this?” Tony asked.

“You didn’t know that Fury has been running a spy ring for the government on the side?” Steve asked, clearly baffled that Tony didn’t know this.

“No. Somehow it never came up. It never occurred to me to ask how the Secret Spy Network was going when I reviewed the Club’s annual reports.”

“Fury hid it well.”

“When did you find out?”

Steve closed his sketchbook. “Two months after I returned to New Timely and began working with the club. Dr. Strange had recommended that I contact Fury for work -- that the Club could always use someone with my skills. Fury had expedition work for me and assigned Nat and Clint. Clint left out his notes, I found them, and that’s how I found out about the Spy Network.”

“Hmm. He asked you to --?”

Steve chuckled. “Not my line of work. Not even in the war.”

Tony slouched a little and sighed. “Why didn’t you trust me with the information?”

“Until recently, I didn’t know you well. We hadn’t worked together and all I knew was from the papers. Fury was very tight-lipped about the whole business.”

“That’s how the spy stuff works -- compartmentalize, compartmentalize, compartmentalize.”

“I am not comfortable with this either. I’ve had my own bad experiences with people Fury hired and some of the missions.”

“We need to be on the same page here, Rogers.”

“You can call me Steve. I hope that this means that you’ll stay on.”

“Eh, it spares me from magic.”

Sensing that the air was clear, Redwing ventured out of the bedroom. Steve suspected that she really couldn’t resist being away from Tony, who was one of her favorite people. She made a beeline right to Tony, nudging him for scritches and pats. “Who’s a good dino?” Tony obliged, scratching her along her frill to her obvious enjoyment.

“Thank you for staying.”

“You better spill it all and don’t hold back, Steve, so help me. Redwing won’t save you next time.”

~~~~~

Steve was more than glad to clear the air. At breakfast the next morning he announced an emergency meeting, calling everyone in the expedition to the central tent.

The members of the expedition looked at each other, wondering what Steve’s meeting was about. Thor had a hammer with him, as he eyed the camp perimeter, clearly agreeing with Clint that something had to be threatening the camp.

Steve looked over the gathered crowd, checking that everyone was there. “Good morning, we need to address the aims of this expedition.” He noticed the sudden perking up of several heads. Better than coffee to get their attention.

“Our official goals are to gather specimens for the museum, conduct scientific explorations, and to map areas of the Savage Land. However, a number of us have additional missions.”

“My brother and I are here to find out who has been smuggling dinosaurs to New Timely and other cities,” said Wanda.

“That isn’t a surprise,” Clint said from the back of the tent. A number of other people nodded and murmured in agreement. Sam shifted in his seat and folded his arms.

“It is wrong and it should be righted --”

“Thank you, Wanda. Hope?” Steve redirected.

“As you all know, I have already explained that I am trying to find out who has been stealing Pym equipment.”

Natasha added, “And Stark Industries motors and steam engines.”

“Vibranium,” Nakia said.

Thor coughed and said, “I have been keen to find where ancient Asgardian artifacts have disappeared.”

Steve exchanged a quick look with Tony, who only shrugged. Then Tony blurted out, “Was anyone on this expedition for the purpose of this expedition?”

Everyone looked at each other. “Aw, cripes, I can read a room,” Tony muttered. “Guess we’ll have to bring back something for the museum to cover up all the espionage. We’re going to sell a ton of tickets for the Annual Dinner, no one is going to want to miss this one.”

Surprisingly, once all the secret missions were exposed, the expedition mood lightened up. Everyone pitched in to help others with their investigations. Nakia coordinated the information gathering and the assignments. But it was Clint who suggested that they send him and Pietro to explore the coastline looking for signs of the smugglers that everyone knew were based somewhere in the Savage Land.

Steve found that he had a spring in his step he hadn’t had since he returned from the Zeppelin War. And more often than not, that step brought him to Tony’s tent late after dinner, after the singing and the plays and the games. He had the excuse of walking Redwing for the night -- she wanted no part of Wanda’s rehabilitation efforts. And Redwing always strained on her leash when they reached Tony’s tent as she looked for him.

They would end up sitting in the porch drinking the moonshine that Tony and Bruce had been brewing up. Stars in the heavens above them, stars in Tony’s beautiful brown eyes. Steve felt the butterflies in his stomach each night, somehow expecting Tony to be busy fixing a machine and always grateful when Tony waved him in and gave him a drink.

The expedition would end, they always did, and Steve didn’t want this to end, his quiet reflective evenings with Tony talking about books or the weather or what Tony did that day.

They would have to leave soon after Clint and Pietro returned. The specimens were almost all gathered and ready to be packed up for the return. But everyone had an edge of disappointment, since they had still not discovered anything about the smuggling. As for himself, Steve had the most to lose when they left -- he’d finally found his place leading the expedition, and was perhaps on the verge of making a real difference like he’d always wanted to do.

“Ready to go back?” Steve said. Redwing was sleeping on his feet and he had a tankard of moonshine in one hand. A sweet evening breeze blew through the tent.

Tony frowned. “Not sure. I don’t like the feeling of unfinished business, to be honest.”

“I’ll see how the rest of the team feels after Clint and Pietro return. Sam said we still have supplies. Nakia’s pushing to stay.”

Steve wished he understood Tony more. He’d picked up that Tony didn’t like him much at the beginning and now they were just bridging the gap between. Just as Steve was thinking of what it would be like to kiss Tony. He had no confidence that he’d be able to see Tony like this back in New Timely. Tony was a busy, busy man.

“I overheard her talking to Wanda about using magic to track vibranium,” Tony said.

“Oh,” Steve replied faintly. He drank his moonshine.

Tony gave Steve an appraising look. “I gather you don’t like magic. For reasons, of course.”

“It’s not something I like to think about, no. I know Wanda uses magic. But it makes my skin crawl -- remembering the Void.”

Nodding, Tony offered Steve more liquor. “I don’t like magic -- I have more faith in science -- it can be understood, reproduced and everyone gets the same results. Magic is more like an art, I guess.”

Steve shifted to one side, to be closer to Tony. “I don’t know about that entirely. A mix of magic and science fixed my health and gave me strength. So I see the benefits.”

“But you were imprisoned in that Void for years.”

“True, I could have passed on that.” He thought about the unending darkness and the fear.

Tony clinked Steve’s tankard with his. “To ‘magic sucks.’”

Steve grinned. “To ‘magic sucks.’”

As he walked back to his tent with a protesting sleepy Redwing in tow, Steve pondered more. Without magic he wouldn’t have met Tony. Maybe it was worth it. Maybe he could keep this going once they were home, fight for it and not let Tony slip through his fingers.

~~~~~

“Since you aren’t spending the morning with your new bestie Tony for once, I want to talk about how long Clint and Pietro have been gone,” Natasha said after ambushing Steve first thing in the morning.

“It’s been a week,” Steve replied.

“Clint’s more efficient than that,” Nat told him.

“More efficient than what?” asked Sam. He stood at the door of the tent, wiping off his forehead.

“Sam?” Steve said in surprise.

“I ran here from the beach -- Clint and Pietro are coming in.”

Steve told them, “I’ll get Tony and meet you down at the beach.”

By the time Tony and Steve got to the beach, Clint and Pietro were being grilled by Natasha, Nakia and Hope. Sam followed behind with his map of the Savage Land.

“Tell Steve what you found,” Natasha prompted.

“First the map, Sam.” As Sam set the map down on a crate, Clint pointed to the coastline. “There, that’s where I saw the other harbor.”

“Other harbor?” Tony asked.

“Ships. Men. Crates, tents, supplies. Camp with wooden buildings and a dock. Like a real port town,” Clint described.

“They had to have been there for ages,” Pietro added. “Not far from here.”

“Oh,” Steve said. “How many men do you think?”

“Wait -- what was stamped on the crates? Did you see any identifying marks?” Nakia asked.

Pietro stopped and thought for a minute. “I saw hexagons. You?”

Clint nodded in agreement. “Hexagons. On all the crates.”

Tony turned pale. “That’s the trademark of the AIM corporation.”

“The technology pirates,” Hope added grimly. “I should have known that they were behind this.”

“AIM is the new HYDRA, Steve,” Natasha explained. “Started up from the ashes of the HYDRA after your war.”

“How did you know that?” he asked.

“Fury and I have been investigating AIM for the past year. Not for smuggling though -- we were looking into bank fraud.”

Steve sighed heavily. He should be more upset about finding out a new thing about Fury’s operations every day. But right now, he was more worried about the safety of his expeditions and friends. “We need intel and a plan.”

He had faced this exact situation before. He knew what to do. He tapped meaningfully on the map. “We’ll leave Thor to protect this camp. They have to know that we’re already here -- all they have to do is avoid us and we’re none the wiser. We need to send a scouting party to determine what we’re facing.”


	4. Chapter 4

The scouting party would leave in the afternoon, with the plan of arriving at the other camp as dusk fell. The party was larger than Steve would have liked. But Tony refused to be left behind at home base. So it was Steve, Sam, Natasha, Nakia, Clint and Tony in the group heading out.

They landed a safe distance outside the other camp and carefully picked their way to a secure watching spot.

“There -- look at those crates.” Nakia pointed to the stacks of cargo on the dock as she lowered her binoculars. “They have Wankandan markings.”

Steve nodded grimly. This felt like that war all over again, with the same players and the same missions. He didn’t want to dwell on the dark thoughts he’d had on the trip. That he’d fought that war for nothing.

As Natasha and Nakie continued their observations, Tony tapped his shoulder, “Okay there?”

“Focused on the mission.”

“AIM is nothing like HYDRA, I’d like to point out,” Tony replied to Steve. “Not the same.”

“Wait, what are they pulling out of that crate?” Natasha asked. “The one with the Pym Corp stamps?”

“Collars of some sort,” Sam reported. “Almost like Redwing’s.”

“Banded collars to control captured dinosaurs,” Tony said. “That is what those are for.”

“This has to be the center of all the smuggling,” Nakia said. “Everything is here.”

Steve said, “We need to go back now. We can figure a plan out in the morning.”

They had set up camp next to where they had landed the row boats. Everyone had their small field tents set up around a campfire, shielded so they couldn’t be seen from a distance. Dinner had involved a lively discussion about what to do next, finally deciding to do one more round of reconnaissance before returning to the rest of the expedition for a joint decision about the next steps.

Tony had wandered off, saying he needed to clear his head. Clint had the first watch, Steve the second, and Sam the third. Clint didn’t have to wake Steve up for his watch. He’d had bad nightmares since he’d turned in about that last fight on Skull’s zeppelin.

He settled down by the fire while Clint took over his tent. Something didn’t feel right, he knew it in his bones. He looked at each tent carefully, and saw that Tony’s seemed unoccupied. Steve went over to the tent and knew immediately that Tony had not returned from his walk. He flicked a match for light and saw gun and metal parts strewn across the bed along with traces of gunpowder.

Stark had a weapons background. He didn’t make them any more, but that didn’t mean that he lost all knowledge.

Steve had seen the look on Tony’s face when they returned to their temporary camp, like he was reliving something terrible. If only Steve hadn’t been distracted by dwelling on his own failures….

He caught up to Tony just before they reached the other camp. Tony had rigged a backpack with home-made grenades and canisters created from the few supplies they had brought. Steve was deeply impressed, but knew that now was not the time.

“Tony, stand down,” Steve said. “You can’t defeat them by yourself.”

“Yeah? Wanna stop me?” Tony snarled.

He walked forward another couple of steps, and immediately tripped off a snare. The snare wrapped around both of their legs, throwing them to the ground. The trap also set off a loud clanging noise as an alarm.

AIM soldiers piled out of the camp. Steve grabbed a large stick from the ground and jumped in front of Tony protectively. Tony threw a grenade from his pack, which bounced but didn’t explode. “I think we’re in trouble,” he said.

“Probably are,” Steve agreed with a grimace. This wasn’t going to end well for him or Tony.

~~~~~

Tony woke up with a sore head and wet feet. Neither of those were the fun kind of sore or wet. He went to scratch the itch in the middle of his back. Suddenly he became keenly aware that his arms were tied behind his back and his legs weighted down by leg irons. He blinked a few times as his sluggish mind sorted out where exactly he was.

Right. Tried to blow up an AIM base, got caught and knocked out.

But where? Ah, right, he was in a cave. Light flooded through the cave mouth, nearly blinding him. And his feet were wet from the last wavelet splashing into the cave. The AIM soldiers had stripped him down to his shirtsleeves and had ransacked his pockets as far as he could tell.

His eyes adjusted to the darker interior of the cave. He could see that Steve was nearby, also tied up and in leg irons. “Steve? Are you awake?”

Steve groaned slightly as he woke up. From what Tony could see, Steve had taken the brunt of AIM‘s offensive attacks, when Steve had jumped in front of the soldiers to protect Tony from a severe beating.

“Steve, are you okay?”

“A bit groggy. I heal quick.” One of the many special things about Steve from the Zeppelin War besides the enhanced strength. “Where are we?”

“In a cave. I think that the tide is coming in. You know, icing on the cake after the beating and the being-tied-up business.”

Steve grunted as he shifted his body around. His shirt tore more with the movement.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to find a rock. A sharp rock. See any around?”

Tony blinked to try to clear his vision. “You’re blocking the view.”

“I’m wondering why we weren’t interrogated,” Steve said.

“Doesn’t matter, the AIM people know why they’re here, they don’t need to worry about us.”

Steve shook his head. “It can’t be just dinosaurs. The dinosaur pet market depends for now on illegal imports from the Savage Land. People are starting to breed domestic dinos, which are more available and cheaper than the smuggled dinos.”

“Not as much variety. Like a velociraptor for a pet -- people want those.”

“Wanda doesn’t know anyone who owns or wants a velociraptor.”

“I know people who would. Like Justin Hammer.”

Steve wiggled as he felt for a sharp rock. Tony had to look away, as unprompted thoughts about better places and uses for the wiggle show filled his brain.

“We found Redwing in a shady market, she was the last of her litter and the only survivor. Wanda said that big money was being made by the smuggling ring.”

“Hey, sorry about that -- I thought you were kind of an entitled jerk for owning a dino.”

“I wouldn’t have -- I don’t think it’s a great idea either. But Redwing needed someplace to go.”

“Wanda expects you to let her go before we leave for New Timely. Do you think that’s a good idea? Since Redwing’s never been in the wild?”

“The tide is coming in faster. Look for a rock.” Steve frantically wiggled over to another pile of rocks. “Found one.”

“Found what?”

“A sharp rock.”

Steve moved his wrists back and forth. “The ties are fraying. But I don’t know what to do about the leg irons.”

“it won’t matter much if we can’t untie the ropes.” Tony pulled up his legs to look at the irons. He noticed how badly they were forged. “It would have been more efficient to shoot us in the head.”

“Leaving us to drown -- that means that there would be plausible natural reasons for our deaths without the risk of it being traced back to AIM. If anyone found our bodies.”

“I’m very unimpressed with that. Guns and shallow graves are still more efficient.”

“Ha! Got it!” Steve waved his now-free arms. He snatched up the rock and butt shuffled over to Tony.

“You have to work fast - the water is getting closer and deeper.”

Steve quickly picked the knots on Tony’s ties and freed Tony’s arms. “Great -- grab those rocks right there,” Tony said. “Smash the joints on the leg irons -- the welds look poor.”

They said nothing as they smashed the irons with all their might, until finally they broke free. They hastily scrambled up higher on the cave rocks.

“We’re going to have to swim for it,” Tony said.

Steve was running his hand along the cave walls. “Let’s check for other options first.”

“AIM needs the Pym collars to control the dinosaurs through electrical shocks. But why the vibranium?”

“And what about the thefts from Stark Industries? What did they steal there? Pym makes more than control collars,” Steve reminded him.

Steve was knocking on the rocks as he moved further back into the cave. Tony followed him, clinging to the rocks as best he could. The sea water was roaring back and forth below them as the waves crashed into the cave.

“AIM has to be selling the dinosaurs to make money,” Tony stated.

Steve pointed out, “They have to control the supply chain of dinos in order to get their money back. That camp was set up to capture and hold dinosaurs. With the reinforced pens, stolen equipment, guns.”

“Wait -- so you said that Wanda didn’t know about velociraptors. AIM is smuggling out the safer vegetarian dinosaurs for pet sales, and keeping the dangerous carnivores like velociraptors for their own purposes. Basically they are selling off the dinosaurs that they don’t want to pay for their smuggling operations.”

“That can’t be good.”

Tony thought hard as he put the pieces together.

“I’m hearing air coming from over here,” Steve said encouragingly.

“With the Hammer weapons, whatever they stole from Stark Industries, the Pym control collars and the vibranium, AIM could create a velociraptor army to invade anywhere.”

“Tony.”

“I know -- it sounds insane.”

“No, it doesn’t. Not to me. That seems a lot like what HYDRA did with the Zeppelins back in my day.”

“Do you trust me?” Tony asked breathlessly.

Steve never hesitated for a second. “Yes.”

“Good, I have a plan to stop Killian -- he’s the guy running AIM -- and the dinosaur smuggling and the AIM velociraptor army.”

“Just that?” Steve said with a smile. “But first we have to get out of this cave.”

“You want everything, don’t you?” Tony teased back.

“Found it! A way out of the cave!” Steve said. He pushed through a narrow break between the rocks and then pop, they were on the other side of the cave.

They stopped to take a deep breath. “Where are we?” Tony asked.

Steve turned his head back and forth. “The AIM camp is that way -- we’ll need to go around it to get to ours.”

“Lead on.”

They walked towards the camp. “I should have trusted you and the others earlier,” Tony admitted. “I’ve been betrayed before -- my old business partner and I went on an expedition. He’d set the whole thing up so I’d be killed by raiders. Didn’t work out that way.”

Steve put his arm around Tony. “You had your reasons.”

“If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be at all close to uncovering whatever conspiracy is going on.”

“That was everyone else, Tony. I’m not --” Steve huffed. “I’m useless in a civilian world, just a relic from the past.”

“You held us together from start to finish, Steve. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

Tony turned to Steve and swayed toward him until their lips touched in a kiss. A perfect brush of the lips, at first. He could tell that Steve had closed his eyes as he leaned up to kiss Steve again. Actually Tony could stand here all day at the edge of the jungle, just kissing Steve and having Steve’s arms around him.

Steve ran a finger along Tony’s jaw. “We have to get going, or we’re going to stay here all day.”

“Right, velociraptor army.”

“You could be wrong on that,” Steve said.

“No, all the signs point to it. Defeat the army and we can get back to the kissing part of the expedition plans.”

They slowed down as they reached the edge of the AIM camp. “It’s deserted, Tony,” Steve said.

“That’s not good, I can tell it’s not good.”

“They didn’t even leave any camp guards behind.” They walked right into the huge AIM encampment.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that they are going to destroy our friends and they have nothing to worry about,” Steve replied. “We need to get back to camp fast. But it’s a few hours by row boat.”

“Not to worry.” Tony walked over to a tent. “I bet you I can rig up a flying machine. There has to be parts around here. You go and find a hot air balloon -- they must have one for locating the dinos.”

Steve found the hot air balloon and Tony as promised bodged together an engine and rudder system for the balloon. “Let’s go rescue our friends,” Tony said as he dropped anchor on the balloon.

They had smooth sailing for most of the way towards their camp. Steve controlled the air flow to the balloon. Tony stoked the fire and the engine. The steam engine pushed them fast through the air instead of riding the air currents.

“Look down there,” Steve said. “They’re marching overland with the dino army, not taking the water route.”

“Are -- are those dinosaurs outfitted with Gatling guns?” Tony asked, pointing to the thirty-odd dinosaurs below them.

“Gatling guns?”

“It’s a multiple shot, automated loading gun -- Stark Industries developed it after the war, in case we needed to fend off HYDRA again.”

“Tony --”

“We stopped making those guns when I got out of the weapons business -- AIM must have stolen the plans from us.”

“Duck!” Steve shouted, pulling Tony down to the bottom of the wicker basket. “They’ve seen us.” A couple of bullets whizzed by.

“How far is it to camp?”

Steve cautiously peeked over the edge of the basket. “About a mile. Clint and Sam are throwing up some barricades.”

“Great. They won’t be totally unprotected.”

“They need more firepower --”

“Okay -- you deflate the balloon and I’ll aim to land in the center of camp.”

The basket was hit by a couple of bullets as they worked. “At this rate, they’ll get the balloon,” Steve said.

“Get ready for a bumpy landing.”

The next round of bullets did hit the balloon. It deflated rapidly as the basket scraped across the treetops. Thor and Bruce ran to meet them as they came to rest in a tree. Tony and Steve climbed down as fast as they could. They all ran back to camp as Steve yelled to Thor about the dinosaurs bearing down on them.

As soon as Steve reached the camp, he had some semblance of a defensive plan. He issued a quick set of orders. Hope handed out the few guns they had on hand in case they were attacked by the local fauna.

Except this local fauna had Gatling guns.

“Tony -- go make grenades, anything you can throw and make explosions and create fire,” Steve said.

“I can use magic to set up a protective barrier,” Wanda offered.

“Do that. Pietro, protect your sister. Clint --”

“I’ll look after ‘em,” Clint said, grabbing a set of bow and arrows. “I’m better with these than a gun.”

Steve had Hope, Scott, Natasha, and Thor set up as a defensive line with the guns. Nakia and Bruce were dispatched to help Tony with his work. Jane hid in Steve’s tent with Redwing.

“What about us?” Sam asked.

Steve was ransacking all the supplies for any bit of rope he could find. “Tie the rope together.”

“We’ll have no cover.”

“Are you up for it?”

“Hell yeah.”

Once the rope was prepped, Steve sent Sam to the other side of the camp while he ran in the opposite direction. He could hear the loud ping of bullets bouncing off Wanda’s magic shield.

He wished he could say something to Tony before the fight. But no time for any of that. He ran to his tree. Sam was already tying his rope to his tree. He waved to Steve before taking cover. The dinos were now breaking through the tree line and through Wanda’s fading shield. He had minutes to secure the rope.

The first line of dinos crashed right into Steve’s trap, tripping over the rope line and crashing into each other. Sam and Steve dashed madly back into the camp, each grabbing a gun as they ran.

Natasha was throwing the first set of Tony’s crude bombs. The noise, smoke and fire quickly began to cause chaos among the dinosaurs. Steve ran back and forth between the Thor’s groups and Tony’s, checking on supplies and how people were holding up.

When he returned with a bucket of canisters from Tony, Hope pulled him aside. “We need to disrupt the control collars somehow, maybe destroy the main controls.”

“How can we do that?”

Scott piped up. “I have an idea -- I just need wire, vibranium, and something to project sound.”

Steve dispatched them to Tony. “Tell Tony what you told me.”

Scott rattled off a lot about frequencies and sound waves. Tony listened raptly. He thumped Scott on the shoulder. “That should work.” Scott beamed.

“We’ll keep up the defense. You work on that,” Steve ordered.

“Aye, aye Captain,” Tony replied.

“I’m not that type of captain,” Steve replied automatically.

Steve urged his friends to keep up the harassing fire to hold off the velociraptors. He saw Clint up in a large tree aiming his bow and arrows at the guns. Good man, Steve thought. An exhausted Wanda and Pietro stumbled back into camp and were sent into hiding.

“We’re running out of ammunition, Captain,” Thor said.

They would, of course. They didn’t have much ammunition stockpiled to begin with and their rifles were no match for the Gatling guns.

Then Tony and Scott rushed out of their tent with an odd contraption made of wire, a large metal cone and tubes. A lot of tubes. “Radio wave disruptor,” Tony shouted as they ran past.

Bruce joined them as they pointed the disruptor towards the snarling velociraptors. Steve and the others held their breath when the machine was flipped on. Steve heard a slight whining tone.

At first nothing happened. But first one, then another, and then more of the velociraptors bucked and threw their riders into the dirt. The herd of animals ran roughshod over the fallen AIM soldiers as they fled into the jungle.

“It’s a velociraptor stampede!” Scott shouted in glee.

“We won,” Tony said to Steve, who pulled Tony close to kiss his smudged, dirty face.

“We did. We did,” Steve said happily.

~~~~~

Steve organized and led the round-up of the remaining AIM soldiers over the next week. At least there weren’t that many to deal with and soon they were locked up on the cargo ship. They freed the remaining dinosaurs in captivity in the AIM camp and packed up the stolen technology. Nakia said, “My fellow Wakandans will come and remove all traces of vibranium when we have left.”

Then it was time for the expedition to go.

The expedition members had a lot to sort out as they closed the camp to return home. They would sail back to Port City where Nakia would return home with most of the missing vibranium along with the criminals who stole it, to face Wakandan justice.

The specimens were crated up, the trash and debris burned, and the tents and other equipment neatly stowed away on the ship. Steve steeled himself for the final plan.

He went over to Redwing’s pen. She was scratching up the ground to pull up the last of the sweet grass. She bounded over to Steve, Tony and Sam and cooed merrily at them. Steve gave her a treat, opened the gate and walked towards the edge of the woods.

Curious about where Steve was going, Redwing bopped along, her feathers and scales rippling with the movement. Steve motioned for her to go into the forest. “Time for you to go free.”

Redwing gave him an unimpressed look and went to beg Tony and Sam for another treat.

“I don’t think she’s getting the idea,” Sam laughed.

“The point was to let her go free,” Steve said. His heart clenched at the idea of leaving her behind.

“If it’s one thing we learned on this expedition, it’s that Redwing is one smart cookie,” Tony added. “She knows which side her bread is buttered on.”

She squawked at Steve to pick her up. He knew that if he picked her up, he was taking her to the ship and home.

“It’s okay, Steve,” Tony said. “I know you promised Wanda to return Redwing home. But have you considered that she’s already made the calculation that four square meals a day, a soft bed and all the toys she can destroy is a better deal than the forest?”

Redwing bobbed her head, as if agreeing with Tony.

“Okay, I guess you’ll be a city dinosaur again,” Steve said. “But that means wearing a collar and leash.”

Steve picked her up, and she settled down in the crook of his arms. He looked up at Tony. “You don’t mind?”

“No,” Tony said with a smile. “I already have ideas for a dinosaur playground.”

~~~~~

The ship steamed back to the Port City Protectorate as fast as their steam engines could propel the ship and all its cargo. Steve was of course uneasy about the load of restless prisoners on board. But they made it safe and sound into the harbor, with no fight from the prisoners.

A contingent of the Wakandan army and the Dora Milaje were waiting for them, as Nakia promised. At first Steve had been concerned about who had jurisdiction. “They stole vibranium -- it’s a higher capital crime in Wakanda than theft of private property. These people will see justice.”

“We can’t take that many people to New Timely,” Tony added.

“Thank you, Nakia,” Steve said.

“It’s been my pleasure,” Nakia said.

Before Nakia left for Wakanda, Tony got the name of that restaurant where they had met T’Challa when they first came to the city. “I have plans,” he said to Steve mysteriously.

Those plans included a huge farewell party for the expedition. Not everyone was planning to go on to New Timely. Dr. Foster was traveling with Thor to an observatory to the south. Hope and Scott had their own plans on getting back to New Timely; Hope had said something about taking a slow steamer and sightseeing along the voyage. As for everyone else, there was work waiting for them.

Steve and Natasha were overseeing the transfer of the expedition crates from the warehouse to the airships. Wanda said, “It’s over when we get back to New Timely.”

“You’ve handled the specimens excellently,” Steve pointed out.

“I don’t think that Fury is going to let someone as talented as you escape,” Natasha said. “He’ll have a job for you.”

Wanda smiled. “I’d like some stability.” Pietro was gone by the morning, heading off somewhere, Wanda didn’t know where.

“Tony sure knows how to throw a party,” Clint said as they arrived at the restaurant, filled with music and all kinds of food laid out on serving tables.

Steve felt a deep warmth within his bones for the first time in a long, long time. Tony looked after him attentively, making sure that food and drink were all at hand and that Steve wasn’t standing in a draft or stuck in a corner. It felt nice, being looked after, being part of the crowd, knowing he wasn’t being left behind, nor needing to make any plans for tomorrow.

Tony slipped his hand into Steve’s and leaned over to say, “I hear that there’s a big full moon in the sky tonight. You want to go see?”

“What about your guests?”

“The wait staff have been paid very well to make sure that all glasses and plates are kept full. Come on, we could both use the break.”

Tony was irresistible in the white summer suit he’d somehow gotten his hands on. Steve felt dizzy as Tony took him by the hand to lead him up a winding staircase to the roof. Above them the bright full moon soared. Steve could hear the music from the raucous party going on downstairs. “It’s beautiful,” Steve said in awe.

“Now imagine that moon, that sky, my country house, and just you and me,” Tony said as he put his arms around Steve’s waist, resting his cheek against Steve’s muscled shoulder.

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony and held him closely. “Is that your plan?”

“Did you have a better one? I’m not letting you escape this time, now that I’ve found you.”

They stood watching the moon, then the band played a slow song. “Can I have this dance?” Tony asked, as he stepped away from Steve and held out his hand.

Steve took it and stepped into a dance position. “I’m not good at this, I should warn you. I might step on your toes.”

“I’m willing to take that risk.”

Tony led Steve in a simple two-step across the roof under the early summer moon. The city lights glowed brightly as the music curled around them. Steve might have stolen a kiss here and there as they danced with their hearts full.

And many dances later, when they stumbled into Steve’s hotel room for a more private dance session, Steve was grateful to see that Redwing and her bed had mysteriously been moved out, no doubt to stay with Sam for the night. Steve decided he owed Sam a lot for that consideration.

But then again, Steve had long since learned how much people were rooting for them. He kissed the top of Tony’s head and held him tight and thought of how lucky he was.

“Not luck, soldier,” Tony whispered, as if he was reading Steve’s mind. “Destiny.”

~~~~~

In celebration of the expedition’s triumphant return, the senior Miss Van Dyne threw the garden party of the season. “Of the decade,” she said proudly. She smiled at Hank, still inexplicably grumpy about the expedition’s results.

Steve sat in the shade, Redwing laying down at his feet. The Van Dyne’s green lawn stretched out before him, dotted with white tents and crowded with the best of the New Explorers’ Club and New Timely society. He felt a touch overdressed in his best day suit and blue cravat.

Tony was making the rounds of the crowd, smiling and nodding, looking stunning in his pastel linen suit. Steve couldn’t tear his eyes away. Jan was overjoyed to be hosting the event where Steve and Tony debuted as the newest power couple in New Timely, Hope gleefully told him when Steve accepted the invite.

Steve and Tony didn’t have a name for whatever they were for each other yet. When they came back from the expedition Tony invited Steve to stay with him. And Steve never left.

Now, he had favorite spots in Tony’s downtown mansion, like the spot in the conservatory where Redwing loved to laze in the sun. Or the rooms Tony had cleared out for Steve’s office and art studio. Steve hadn’t stayed in one spot long enough to have a favorite chair for years, and now he had one by the fireside, where he’d watch Tony design his machines. And he had his own side of the bed.

Redwing butted her head against Steve’s knee for head scritches. “Never get tired of those, do you?” Steve said with a smile.

She yawned and settled down at his feet to watch the people pass by like colorful butterflies. Steve had been asked about his cat-sized dinosaur and how people could get one of their own. He only shook his head and said that Redwing was one of a kind. Besides, their team dismantled the smuggling ring so there would be no more stealing wild dinosaurs for the pet trade.

“How are you holding up?” Tony said as he handed an iced mint lemonade to Steve.

“How did you know?” Steve replied. He took the drink gratefully from Tony.

“I’m getting to be an expert in Steve Rogers maintenance.” Tony bent over to pat Redwing. “How’s our girl?”

“Behaving. She hasn’t shredded a single pillow today.” Steve grinned. “And getting far too much attention from people.”

“We’ll have one bang-up Annual Dinner talk,” Tony said. “Everyone loves dinosaurs.”

“When they are free.”

“And when they’re not velociraptors equipped with guns. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to seeing those illustrations.”


End file.
